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Wetmore,  Apollos  Russell. 
In  memoriam.  Apollos  Russel 
Wetmore 


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Apollos  Russell  Wetmore. 


In  ^pmorienu 


"  They  were  a  very  religious  people.  All  attended 
"  public  worship.  Before  they  had  a  meeting-house 
"  they  worshipped  God  under  the  boughs  of  a  tree, 
"  and  in  less  than  two  years  they  built  them  a  sanctu- 
"  ary  and,  eighteen  years  after,  another." 

These  words  refer  to  Thomas  Wetmore  and  his  fel- 
low-settlers of  the  town  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  1652. 
Among  the  descendants  of  Thomas  Wetmore  in  the 
fourth  generation  was  the  Rev.  Noah  Wetmore,  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman  of  Setauket,  L.  I.,  born  in 
1730.  In  his  funeral  sermon,  preached  at  Hunting- 
ton, L.  I.,  by  the  Rev.  William  Schenck  in  1796,  are 
found  these  words  : 

"  I  know  little  of  Mr.  Wetmore's  ancestry — only 
"  that  he  descended  from  worthy,  pious  parents  and  a 
"  family    remarkable    for   promoting    the    interests    of 


"  religion.  As  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  his  sermons 
"  were  well  composed,  and  animated  with  a  sacred  re- 
"  gard  to  the  honor  of  his  divine  Master  and  the  salva- 
tion of  immortal  souls.  In  the  pulpit,  you  well 
"know,  my  brethren,  he  spoke  the  word  in  all  plain- 
"  ness  and  godly  simplicity,  and  labored  hard  to  win 
"souls  for  Christ." 

Noah  Wetmore,  the  eldest  son  of  this  excellent 
man,  was  born  near  Danbury,  Conn.,  in  1767,  and 
came  to  New  York  about  the  year  1808  to  take  the 
superintendence  of  the  New  York  Hospital.  A  brief 
sketch  of  his  life  gives  the  following  description  of  his 
character  : 

"  His  Christian  spirit  and  character,  combined  with 
"those  of  his  excellent  consort,  rendered  his  inter- 
"  course  and  influence  with  the  children  of  disease 
"  and  affliction  most  salutary.  .  .  .  He  was  a  man 
"  of  prayer,  a  lover  of  the  house  and  people  of  God, 
"  and  was  ready  in  the  measure  of  his  opportunity  and 
"ability  for  every  good  work  in  the  Master's  cause. 
"  His  venerable  personal  appearance,  combined  with 
"  the  weight  of  his  acknowledged  Christian  character, 
"marked  him  to  the  view  of  all  around  as  ati  old 
"  disciple,  a  father  in  Israel." 

From   these   worthy  ancestors   the    man,  in   whose 


memory  these  pages  are  written,  inherited  purity  of 
mind,  steadfastness  of  purpose,  and  love  of  God  and 
his  fellow-man. 

Noah  Wetmore  married,  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1792,  Winifred  Smith,  by  whom  he  had  five  children  : 
Apollos  Russell,  William  Henry,  Apollos  Russell  2d, 
David  Woodhull,  and  Irena  Winifred.  All  these  have 
passed  away  except  the  daughter,  Mrs.  Anthony  P. 
Halsey,  now  a  widow. 

Apollos  Russell  2d,  the  subject  of  this  memoir, 
was  born  in  Huntington,  L.  I.,  on  the  nth  of 
November,  1796,  and  received  the  name  of  a  brother 
who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years  in  January  of  the 
same  year.  His  childhood  was  passed  in  his  father's 
household,  surrounded  by  pure  and  wholesome  influ- 
ences that  left  a  lasting  impress  on  his  character. 
His  boyhood  was  passed  in  the  same  household,  sur- 
rounded by  the  ever-changing  scenes  of  hospital  life, 
and  the  experiences  of  these  early  days  were  never  for- 
gotten. His  recreations  were  few  in  number  and  some- 
what odd  in  their  nature,  consisting,  in  part,  in  games 
of  draughts  with  the  seafaring  men  who  were  from  time 
to  time  inmates  of  the  hospital,  and  who  found  their 
only  amusement  in  these  trials  of  skill  ;  and,  in  part,  in 
assisting  the  surgeons  in   their  operations  by  handing 


them  instruments,  holding  lights,  and  doing  such  other 
small  services  as  lay  within  the  limited  power  of  a 
lad.  The  earliest  out-door  sport  that  he  remembered 
in  after-life  was  skating  on  the  "  Collect,"  and  its 
overflow  on  the  Lispenard  meadows,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Canal  street  of  to-day.  His  interest  in  the 
surgical  operations  in  the  hospital  wards  bred  in  him 
so  strong  a  predilection  for  the  profession  that  about 
the  year  1812  he  entered  Columbia  College  with  the 
intention  of  preparing  himself  for  the  study  of  sur- 
gery and  medicine  ;  and  it  was  during  these  college- 
days  that  the  stirring  events  in  the  city,  incidental  to 
the  war  of  1812,  occurred.  In  the  autumn  of  1814,  in 
response  to  the  appeal  of  the  Committee  of  Defense,  a 
body  of  the  students,  himself  one  of  the  number,  went 
to  the  heights  north  of  the  city  and  aided  in  throwing 
up  the  line  of  intrenchments  running  from  Fort  Laight 
across  the  Bloomingdale  Road  to  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson.  He  often  referred  to  this  exploit  with  much 
humor  as  the  extent  of  his  war  experience.  The  fa- 
vorite pastime  of  these  college-days  was  shooting 
plover  on  Hempstead  plains,  and  he  became  an  ex- 
cellent marksman,  as  was  afterward  shown  by  his  re- 
cord at  target-practice  in  the  Governor's  Guard.  Two 
years  of  study  terminated   his  collegiate  life,  and   he 

6 


left  Columbia  on  the  announcement  of  peace  in  1815. 
He  was  influenced  in  taking  this  step  by  his  father's 
decided  opposition  to  his  choice  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession, and  by  the  determination  of  his  intimate  friend 
and  classmate,  William  Green,  Jr.,  to  leave  college  and 
enter  mercantile  life  ;  and  he  obtained  a  position  in 
the  hardware  store  of  Kip  &  Ingraham  in  Greenwich 
street,  in  which  young  Green  was  already  employed  as 
clerk.  After  they  had  served  this  firm  about  three 
years  Mr.  Green  opened  a  hardware  and  iron  store  on 
the  corner  of  Greenwich  and  Vesey  streets,  and  in 
1 8 19  Mr.  Wetmore  and  his  brother  David  W.  Wet- 
more  went  into  the  same  business  on  their  own  ac- 
count, at  the  corner  of  Canal  and  Hudson  streets.  A 
few  years  afterward  Mr.  Green  was  afflicted  with  a 
severe  illness,  rendering  it  impossible  for  him  to  attend 
to  business,  and  in  this  emergency  the  friendship  of 
Mr.  Wetmore  led  him  to  tender  his  services  in  super- 
intending the  affairs  of  his  old  classmate  and  former  fel- 
low clerk.  This  generous  act  had  its  natural  result  in 
a  union  of  interests  between  the  two  young  merchants 
and  in  an  intimacy  which  lasted  to  the  end  of  Mr. 
Wetmore's  life.  After  Mr.  Green's  recovery  Mr.  Wet- 
more closed  out  his  business,  and,  with  his  brother, 
joined  Mr.    Green    under   the   firm-name   of  Green    & 


Wetmore.  In  1824  the  partners  purchased  the  lots  on 
the  corner  of  Washington  and  Vesey  streets,  and  built 
the  stores  which  were  occupied  by  them  and  the  suc- 
ceeding firm  for  many  years.  The  business  was  car- 
ried on  under  the  firm-name  of  Green  &  Wetmore 
until  1835,  when  Mr.  Green  retired,  leaving  the  busi- 
ness to  be  continued  by  the  two  brothers  under  the 
name  of  Wetmore  &  Co.,  a  style  continued  to  the  pres- 
ent day.  In  1843  Mr.  David  W.  Wetmore  withdrew 
from  the  business,  and  Mr.  Wetmore  continued  it,  with 
his  son  George  C.  Wetmore  and  his  nephew  David 
Wetmore  as  partners.  In  187 1  William  A.  DuBois  was 
admitted  as  a  partner,  and  in  1876  Mr.  Wetmore  and 
his  son  retired  from  the  firm,  leaving  the  business  to 
be  continued  by  Mr.  David  Wetmore  and  Mr.  DuBois. 
This  terminated  Mr.  Wetmore's  mercantile  life,  and  his 
remaining  years  were  devoted  almost  exclusively  to 
the  benevolent  enterprises  in  which  he  was  interested. 
He  was  married  on  the  30th  of  April,  1822,  to 
Mary  Carmer,  daughter  of  Nicholas  G.  Carmer.  Miss 
Carmer  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
the  marriage  took  place  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  the 
Right  Rev.  John  Henry  Hobart,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Diocese,  officiating.  This  union  gave  Mr.  Wet- 
more a  devoted  companion,  whose  loving  approval  and 


cheerful  aid  began  with  the  first  missionary  efforts  of 
his  early  life,  and  faithfully  continued  until  failing 
health  constrained  her  to  become  a  passive  witness  of 
his  labors.  She  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  intelli- 
gence, great  refinement  of  manner,  and  a  lofty  stan- 
dard of  courtesy  that  accorded  admirably  with  the 
modest  dignity  of  address  which  was  so  marked  a 
feature  in  her  husband's  manner.  She  possessed  a 
keen  perception  of  motive  and  character,  and  a  fine 
sense  of  justice  and  propriety  that  made  her  an  in- 
valuable counsellor  in  all  matters  involving  the  exer- 
cise of  discretion  ;  and  her  husband  reposed  the  most 
implicit  trust  in  her  tact  and  judgment. 

The  religious  bias  of  his  father's  household  was  so 
marked  that  it  probably  influenced  him  very  strongly 
in  early  life;  but  it  was  not  until  May,  1831,  that 
he  took  the  pronounced  step  of  uniting  with  the 
Laight  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  then  under  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  his 
wife  also  becoming  a  member  of  the  same  congrega- 
tion. The  young  couple  were  at  this  time  the  parents 
of  five  little  children  and  the  possessors  of  but  moder- 
ate means  ;  and  Mr.  Wetmore's  mercantile  affairs 
made  an  almost  imperative  demand  upon  his  time 
and   attention ;    but   the    higher   and    nobler   aims    of 


his  nature  asserted  themselves  at  once.  Let  his 
own  words,  written  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  tell  the 
story  of  the  beginning  of  the  work  that  has  since 
made  his  name  so  familiar  in  the  households  of  the 
poor: 

"  In  the  revival  of  183 1  I  became  a  member  of 
'  Dr.  Cox's  church  in  Laight  street,  and  desiring  to 
'  do  what  I  could  for  the  cause  of  Him  whom  I  pro- 
'  fessed  to  love  and  serve,  my  attention  was  drawn  to 
'  the  City  Tract  Society,  under  the  direction  of  volun- 
'  teer  superintendents  and  visitors  for  the  distribution 
'  of  religious  truth  among  the  neglected,  and  personal 
'  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  individuals. 

"  I  became  a  visitor  in  a  district  of  about  one 
'  hundred  families,  poor  but  respectable  laboring  peo- 
'  pie.  Very  few  observed  the  Sabbath  or  attended 
'  church  ;  only  one  here  and  there  professed  religion. 
'  By  frequent  and  thorough  visitation  I  became  ac- 
'  quainted  with  the  character  of  the  population,  and 
'  adapted  my  labors  to  their  varied  circumstances, 
'  supplying  the  destitute  with  Bibles,  inducing  families 
'  and  individuals  to  attend  church,  leading  children 
'  to  day  and  Sabbath  schools,  etc.  ;  in  this  way  I 
'  obtained  influence,  and  was  able  to  aid  them  by 
'  advice,   comfort   them   in   trouble,    console   them   in 


"sickness  and  in  the  hour  of  death.  Very  soon  a 
"  change  was  seen  in  the  neatness  of  their  abodes, 
"  the  cleanliness  of  their  persons,  and  the  conduct  of 
"  their  children.  In  some  cases  the  truth  made  an 
"  impression  and  souls  were  converted. 

"  I  soon  established  a  weekly  prayer-meeting  for 
"  the  district  ;  visited  the  families  in  the  afternoon  for 
"the  purpose  of  seeing  cases  of  interest,  circulating 
"tracts  and  inviting  attendance  at  the  evening  meet- 
"  ing,  informing  every  family  by  notice  of  the  place 
"  and  time  of  meeting,  thus  securing  good  attendance. 
"Very  soon  an  increasing  interest  in  religion  was 
"manifest,  and  many  united  with  different  evangel- 
"  ical  churches  on  profession,  some  of  whom  were 
"  of  marked  and  special  interest,  and  furnished  the 
"  requisite  aid  to  conduct  the  devotions  of  the  meet- 
"  ing.  Some  of  these  were  at  first  so  opposed  to  the 
"  truth  and  my  visits  to  their  families  as  to  threaten 
"  violence,  but  by  the  grace  of  God  their  opposition 
"  was  overcome,  and  many  became  devoted  Christians. 
"  Some  have  entered  into  rest  ;  others  are  laboring 
"  to  promote  the  cause  of  their  Saviour. 

"  In  1833  I  became  superintendent  of  the  ward  in 
"  which  my  district  was  located,  containing  a  popu- 
"  lation   of    about   25,000,    divided    into    100   districts, 


"with  visitors   from  the  evangelical    churches  seeking 
"to  build  up  the  wall  about  their  own  sanctuary. 

"  I  became  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance 
"of  this  work,  'seeking  the  salvation  of  individual 
"'souls,'  that  I  secured  the  services  of  a  devoted 
"  Christian,  an  elder  in  one  of  the  churches,  who 
"  spent  all  his  time  in  visitation,  directing  the  labors 
"  of  others,  establishing  and  sustaining  prayer-meet- 
"  ings,  gathering  children  into  day  and  Sabbath  schools, 
"etc.  The  reported  results  were  so  encouraging  that 
"  the  Board  of  the  City  Tract  Society  engrafted 
"  the  system  of  paid  agency  on  volunteer  labor,  and 
"  thus  it  became  practically  CITY  MISSIONS.  A  finance 
"  and  agency  committee  was  appointed,  of  which  I 
"  was  chairman,  with  power  to  select  and  locate  as 
"  many  missionaries,  clergy  or  laity,  as  we  could  raise 
"  the  money  to  sustain.  Ten  were  employed  the 
"  first  year,  1834,  sustained  mostly  by  a  few  individ- 
"  uals,  in  localities  most  populous  and  enjoying  few 
"  religious  privileges.  As  the  interest  in  the  work 
"increased  and  the  funds  were  furnished,  missionaries 
"  were  employed  in  all  the  wards,  districting  the 
"  whole  island.  At  the  present  time  the  society  sus- 
"tains  thirty.  Three  of  them  are  to  German  resi- 
"  dents,  one   to  German    immigrants,  one  to    Swedish 


"  immigrants,  one  to  French  residents,  one  to  Jews, 
"one  to  seamen,  and  the  others  are  ward  missionaries 
"  or  assistants.  The  $340,000  contributed  the  last 
"twenty-six  years  to  sustain  this  effort  was  collected 
"by  individual  application,  without  any  additional 
"  agency  or  the  expenditure  of  a  dollar  for  any  ser- 
"  vice  but  missionary  labor  and  to  supply  the  truth  cir- 
"culated.  .  .  .  Our  success  in  supplying  the  spiritual 
"wants  of  the  poor  led  to  the  consideration  of  some 
"  system  by  which  their  temporal  condition  could  be 
"improved  and  the  necessity  of  indiscriminate  alms- 
"  giving  be  obviated.  This  resulted  in  the  formation, 
"in  1843,  of  the  'Association  for  Improving  the  Con- 
"  '  dition  of  the  Poor,'  of  which  James  Brown,  Esq., 
"  is  president.  The  city  is  divided  into  districts  as- 
signed to  male  visitors,  whose  duty  is  to  investigate 
"  all  cases  referred  to  them,  and,  if  proper  objects,  to 
"  supply  them  with  food  and  fuel.  The  advisory 
"committee  in  each  ward  meet  monthly  to  receive 
"  reports  from  visitors.  The  secretary,  who  is  the 
"tract  missionary  of  the  ward,  prepares  the  report  of 
"  that  ward  for  the  general  agent.  Thus  at  the 
"monthly  meeting  of  the  board  the  entire  operations 
"are    known,    and   appropriations  necessary   to    meet 

"  the  condition  of  each  district  are  made.     The  chair- 

13 


"men  of  the  advisory  committees  compose  the  board. 
"  This  society  expends  from  $30,000  to  $60,000  an- 
"  nually,  which  is  collected  by  agents  canvassing  each 
"ward.  Any  donor  is  a  member,  and  is  furnished 
"  with  the  annual  report,  directory,  tickets,  etc." 

The  early  promise  of  the  parent  society  has  been 
more  than  fulfilled  in  its  vigorous  growth  since  these 
words  were  written.  It  became,  in  1864,  the  "  New 
York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,"  and  was  in- 
corporated in  1866,  and  now  employs  forty-seven 
missionaries,  and  has  an  annual  income  of  nearly 
$50,000.  The  society's  fund  of  $100,000,  for  build- 
ing mission  chapels,  was  obtained  mainly  through 
Mr.  Wetmore's  personal  efforts,  and  has  the  prom- 
ise, in  the  early  future,  of  important  additions.  He 
was  the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  society  for 
twenty-seven  years,  and  became  its  president  in  1875, 
holding  the  latter  office  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

His  connection  with  the  "New  York  Association 
for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor"  continued 
for  many  years,  during  which  he  was  one  of  its  most 
active  and  devoted  friends.  He  became  one  of  the 
vice-presidents  in  185 1,  and  retained  the  office  until 
the  severance  of  his  official  connection  with  the  as- 
sociation, twenty  years  later. 

14 


In  1849  a  benevolent  effort  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  juvenile  vagrants  was  made  by  organizing 
a  "  Boys'  Sunday  Meeting,"  and  in  the  autumn  of 
1850  the  noble  women  interested  in  this  enterprise 
established  a  volunteer  association,  called  "The  Asy- 
lum for  Friendless  Boys,"  at  109  Bank  street.  About 
this  time  Mr.  Wetmore  and  the  gentlemen  associated 
with  him  in  benevolent  work  applied  to  the  State 
Legislature  for  a  charter  for  a  juvenile  asylum.  The 
first  application  failed.  A  second  effort  was  success- 
ful, and  an  act  incorporating  "The  New  York  Ju- 
venile Asylum"  was  passed  January  30,  1851.  The 
charter  made  it  obligatory  upon  the  incorporators  to 
raise  $50,000  by  subscription,  as  a  condition  of  their 
obtaining  a  like  amount  and  other  assistance  from 
the  city  authorities.  This  amount  was  collected  and 
deposited  in  the  Bank  of  New  York  on  January  7, 
1853,  and  the  Board  of  Supervisors  thereupon  au- 
thorized the  payment  of  the  same  amount  by  the 
city.  On  the  first  of  January,  1853,  the  board  of 
managers  leased  the  premises  in  Bank  street,  the 
ladies  having  already  transferred  their  enterprise  to 
their  asylum  building.  On  the  tenth  of  the  same 
month    the    officers   of  the    "  Asylum    for   Friendless 

Boys,"  in   view   of  the   superior   facilities    offered    for 

is 


this  work  by  the  charter  of  the  new  institution,  trans- 
ferred their  inmates  to  the  "  New  York  Juvenile 
Asylum,"  and  fifty-seven  boys,  the  entire  number  in 
their  charge,  were  sent  to  the  "House  of  Recep- 
tion "  in  Bank  street.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
what  has  since  become  one  of  the  most  important 
and  successful  reformatory  institutions  in  the  coun- 
try. The  "House  of  Reception"  is  now  a  large 
brick  building,  erected  for  the  purpose  at  61  West 
Thirteenth  street ;  and  the  extensive  asylum  build- 
ings at  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-sixth  street,  on 
Washington  Heights,  are  models  in  their  way.  The 
work  of  this  society  in  caring  for  vagrant  and  neg- 
lected children,  and  transferring  them,  after  careful 
training,  to  comfortable  homes  in  the  West,  is  too 
well  known  to  need  description  here.  The  fact  that 
in  the  twenty-eight  years  of  its  existence  over  21,000 
children  have  been  committed  to  its  care  is  a  suffi- 
cient comment.  Luther  Bradish  was  president  of  the 
Asylum  during  its  first  year,  1853  ;  in  1854  Mr.  Wet- 
more  succeeded  him  and  retained  the  office  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

He    was   later   in   life   actively   interested   in   three 
hospital    enterprises,   caring   for   three    distinct   classes 

of  bodily   ailments.     These   were    "The   Presbyterian 

16 


Hospital,"  covering  cases  for  general  medical  and 
surgical  care,  "The  Woman's  Hospital,"  devoted 
exclusively  to  maladies  peculiar  to  the  sex,  and 
"The  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Ruptured  and 
Crippled,"  established  for  the  treatment  and  cure  of 
special  injuries  and  deformities,  the  resident  patients  in 
the  last-named  institution  being  exclusively  children. 

"The  Presbyterian  Hospital"  was  founded  in 
1868,  by  the  munificence  of  the  late  James  Lenox, 
who  matured  the  entire  plan  of  organization  and 
management  before  communicating  his  intentions  to 
others.  He  selected  the  gentlemen  who  were  to  be 
associated  with  him  in  the  work  and  addressed  a 
note  to  each,  inquiring  if  they  would  consent  to  be- 
come managers  in  the  new  institution.  Among  them 
was  Mr.  Wetmore  who  thus  became  one  of  the  in- 
corporators and  managers  of  the  hospital,  and  who, 
by  his  lively  interest  in  its  success  and  his  faithful 
devotion  to  its  interests  up  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
fully  justified  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his 
friend  Mr.  Lenox. 

He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  "  The  Woman's 
Hospital,"  in  1857,  and  a  member  of  its  board  of  gov- 
ernors ;  and  held  from   1864  until  his  death  the  office 

of  vice-president. 

17 


His  name  also  appears  as  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  "The  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Ruptured  and 
Crippled"  in  1863,  and  he  was  one  of  the  vice-presi- 
dents of  the  society  from  the  time  of  its  incorporation 
until  his  death. 

Still  another  charity,  modest  in  its  dimensions  but 
noble  in  its  aims,  enlisted  his  hearty  sympathy  and 
untiring  aid.  This  was  "The  Home  for  Fallen  and 
Friendless  Girls,"  inaugurated  in  1865,  at  No.  22 
West  Houston  street.  He  was  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  managers  of  this  institution  from  its  open- 
ing until  his  death,  and  it  appealed  so  strongly  to 
his  sympathy  with  the  unfortunates  whom  it  essayed 
to  lead  back  to  the  forsaken  path  of  virtue,  that  his 
efforts  in  promoting  its  interests  were  indefatigable. 
In  1869  the  "  Home  "  was  removed  to  more  commo- 
dious quarters  at  No.  86  West  Fourth  street,  and 
from  that  time  until  his  death  he  was  almost  a  daily 
visitor,  carefully  supervising  the  house  management 
and  devoting  much  of  his  time  to  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  the  inmates. 

Three  other  important  branches  of  benevolent  work 
had  his  earnest  support  and  co-operation,  although  de- 
manding less  of  his  personal  care.     These  were  "The 

Society  of  the  Lying-in  Hospital  of  the  City  of  New 

18 


York,"  of  which  he  became  one  of  the  governors  in 
1854,  its  vice-president  in  1879,  and  its  president  in 
1880;  "  The  American  Tract  Society,"  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  directors  and  vice-presidents;  and  "The 
Presbyterian  Home  for  Aged  Women,"  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  advisory  committee,  the  "Home" 
being  under  the  management  of  a  board  of  ladies. 
It  was  his  privilege,  from  the  date  of  the  establish- 
ment of  this  admirable  institution,  to  read  the  report 
of  the  board  of  management  at  the  annual  meetings 
of  the  society,  and  his  advice  and  assistance  were  al- 
ways freely  given  in  furthering  its  interests. 

To  these  several  branches  of  benevolent  work  he 
devoted  for  fifty  years  a  large  portion  of  his  time,  a 
liberal  share  of  his  means,  and  the  best  efforts  of  his 
mind.  So  faithfully  and  conscientiously  was  the  duty 
performed,  that  it  may  almost  be  called  a  consecration 
of  himself  to  the  service  of  God  and  suffering  humanity. 
It  may  properly  be  cited,  as  a  proof  of  the  consistency 
with  which  he  labored  to  do  his  whole  duty,  that  he 
attended,  with  but  few  exceptions,  every  board  or  com- 
mittee meeting  of  these  various  associations  from  the 
time  of  their  organization.  The  register  at  the  Juven- 
ile Asylum  shows  a  record  of  three  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  visits  made  by  him  to  the  asylum,  in  addition  to 

19 


his  regular  weekly  and  monthly  attendance  at  meetings 
at  the  House  of  Reception  ;  and  for  many  years  an 
hour  was  devoted  every  morning  to  conducting  the 
daily  services  at  the  Home  for  Friendless  Girls.  Later 
in  life,  when  entirely  relieved  from  business  cares,  he 
might  be  found  at  almost  any  hour  of  any  day  either 
attending  a  committee  meeting  or  making  an  informal 
visit  at  one  of  his  beloved  institutions. 

To  this  vigilant  supervision  he  added  untiring  in- 
dustry and  perseverance  in  raising  funds  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  maintenance  of  these  various  charities. 
It  is  strange  that  a  man,  so  self-reliant  and  so  far 
removed  from  self-seeking  in  any  form,  should  have 
possessed  in  such  a  marked  degree  the  faculty  of  suc- 
cessfully soliciting  assistance  from  others ;  but  his  ap- 
proach was  made  with  so  much  dignity  and  with  such 
unaffected  confidence  in  the  merits  of  his  cause  that 
he  was  not  often  refused.  It  is  estimated  that  of  the 
large  sums  subscribed  for  the  several  charities  already 
named  about  two  millions  of  dollars  were  obtained  by 
his  personal  efforts. 

This  imperfect  review  of  his  work  in  the  cause  of 
Christian  philanthropy  would  be  still  more  incomplete 
than  it  is,  were  reference  not  made  to  another  field  of 
labor,  on  his  part,  so  extensive  and  so  diversified  that 


it  is  difficult  to  describe  it  in  detail.  This  was  the  aid 
quietly  but  cheerfully  given  from  day  to  day  to  hun- 
dreds of  deserving  applicants.  Clergymen  and  mis- 
sionaries in  destitute  circumstances,  friendless  strangers 
in  the  city,  the  respectable  poor  in  need  of  temporary 
assistance,  and  even  business  acquaintances  overtaken 
by  reverses  of  fortune  all  found  in  him  a  compassion- 
ate and  generous  friend  who  never  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  their  words  of  distress.  Beyond  this,  again, 
his  earnest  interest  in  Christian  effort,  wherever  put 
forth,  led  him  to  maintain  an  extended  correspond- 
ence with  clergymen  and  others,  giving  them,  with 
patience  and  care,  the  benefit  of  his  own  large  ex- 
perience, and  in  some  cases  securing  for  struggling 
church  enterprises  the  more  material  assistance  of  pe- 
cuniary aid. 

His  connection  with  the  Laight  street  church  ter- 
minated in  1 841,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  Cen- 
tral Presbyterian  Church  in  Broome  street,  then  under 
the  charge  of  the  Rev.  William  Adams.  In  1853  a 
number  of  the  members  of  this  congregation,  among 
them  Mr.  Wetmore,  organized  the  Madison  Square 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  1855  occupied  their  new 
church  edifice  on  the  corner  of  Madison  avenue  and 
Twenty-fourth  street,  with  their   old   pastor,  afterward 


Dr.  Adams,  in  charge.  Mr.  Wetmore  was  one  of  the 
original  trustees  of  the  church,  and  for  the  last  nine- 
teen years  of  his  life  was  chairman  of  the  board,  and 
the  testimony  of  his  fellow-trustees  as  to  his  "zeal, 
"attention,  and  fidelity"  at  their  meetings  and  "his 
"judicious  assistance  in  the  administration  of  the 
"temporal  affairs  of  the  church"  is  already  upon 
record. 

In  the  spring  of  1848  he  moved  from  St.  John's 
square,  to  No.  19  (now  No.  18)  North  Washington 
square,  where  he  resided  until  the  spring  of  1 872.  His 
eldest  son  was  married  prior  to  the  removal  from  St. 
John's  square,  and  during  the  ensuing  twenty-four 
years  his  other  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
were  married  and  settled  in  their  own  homes.  This 
led  to  the  sale  of  the  property  on  North  Washington 
square  early  in  1872,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wetmore  en- 
gaged a  suite  of  apartments  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood, Mrs.  Wetmore's  advanced  age  and  feeble  health 
requiring  exemption  from  the  cares  of  housekeeping. 
In  April  of  the  same  year  the  venerable  couple  quietly 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding,  a  few  members  of 
their  immediate  family  only  being  present  ;  they  had 
at  this  time  twenty-one  grandchildren  living.  On  the 
15th  of  June,   1876,  after  a  painful  illness,  Mrs.  Wet- 


more  died,  and  a  few  days  later  Mr.  Wetmore  re- 
moved to  the  home  of  his  youngest  daughter  at  No. 
33  West  Ninth  street,  and  remained  with  her  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  During  the  winter  of  1880-81 
the  increasing  weight  of  years  necessitated,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  a  few  precautions  against  exposure 
to  the  weather ;  but  excepting  a  few  brief  and  lightly 
borne  indispositions  no  impairment  of  his  usual  robust 
health  was  apparent. 

The  evening  of  the  20th  of  January,  a  very  wild 
and  stormy  one,  was  passed  at  home.  He  seemed  to 
be  enjoying  perfect  health,  and  was  in  excellent  spirits, 
and,  with  his  customary  good  nature,  laughed  and  joked 
with  his  little  grandchildren  in  parting  with  them  at 
bedtime.  He  was  last  seen  alive,  a  few  minutes  after 
eleven  o'clock,  by  his  daughter,  to  whom  he  said  good- 
night with  his  usual  cheerful  manner.  On  the  follow- 
ing morning,  all  efforts  to  arouse  him  having  failed, 
the  door  of  his  apartment  was  forced,  and  he  was 
found  lifeless  in  his  bed.  There  were  no  evidences 
of  any  suffering,  and  his  features  wore  an  expression 
of  placid  repose.  His  earnest  prayer,  that  he  might 
so  die  in  sleep  when  his  Lord  should  call  him  home, 

had  been  mercifully  and  tenderly  answered. 

23 


— "  Remember  all 
"  He  spoke  among  you,  and  the  man  who  spoke  ; 
"  Who  never  sold  the  truth,  to  serve  the  hour, 
"Nor  palter'd  with  Eternal  God  for  power; 
"...     Whose  life  was  work,  whose  language  rife 
"With  rugged  maxims  hewn  from  life; 
"  Who  never  spoke  against  a  foe  ; 
"Whose  eighty  winters  freeze  with  one  rebuke 
"All  great  self-seekers  trampling  on  the  right." 

These   words  of  a   great   poet,  though  written    of 

u  the   foremost    captain    of  his   time,"  might  justly  be 

applied  to  him  whose  life  was  so  peacefully  spent  and 

so  peacefully   ended  ;  a  greater  poet  has  said,  "  Peace 

hath  her   victories    no   less   renowned   than  War."     It 

was    a    life     consistently    guided    by    precepts    of    the 

purest  Christianity,  and  so  full  of  the  noblest  humanity 

that  in  his  eyes  no  distress  of  mind  or  body  was  too 

trivial  to  merit  attention,  and  no  obstacle  to  relief  too 

formidable   to  be  met  and   overcome.     No   tribute  to 

the  memory  of  such  a  man  can  add  lustre  to  his  name. 

It  can  but  testify  affection  and  affirm  the  sense  of  loss ; 

yet  to  those  to  whom  that  memory  is  dear  it  may  be 

pleasant  to  recall  the   traits   that   made   him   honored 

and  revered. 

24 


His  early  training  moulded  a  naturally  docile  and 
affectionate  nature  into  the  resolute  yet  gentle  char- 
acter which  was  to  carry  him  through  a  long  life  of 
active  and  sagacious  benevolence.  His  father's  house-' 
hold  was  almost  Puritan  in  its  faithful  observance  of 
religious  duties,  its  simplicity  of  home  life,  and  its  un- 
compromising standards  of  right  and  wrong.  All 
these  elements  in  the  surroundings  of  his  childhood 
impressed  themselves  upon  his  mind,  and  remained 
marked  traits  in  his  character  in  after-life,  but  so  tem- 
pered by  a  kindly  charity  of  judgment  that  they  lost 
all  semblance  of  austerity.  His  religious  belief  was 
implicit  and  unquestioning,  and  revealed  itself,  with- 
out ostentation,  in  all  his  thoughts  and  actions  ;  and 
his  reliance  on  that  Father  unto  whom  all  hearts  are 
open  was  as  simple  and  unaffected  as  the  undoubting 
faith  of  a  little  child.  His  sincerity  of  purpose  was 
unquestionable,  and  was  strikingly  illustrated  in  the 
active  missionary  work  taken  up  from  the  very  hour 
of  his  profession  of  faith.  What  the  noble  growth  of 
that  modest  beginning  of  toil  in  the  Master's  service 
has  been,  has  already  been  told,  and  its  prompt  and 
energetic  development  marks  with  manly  promise  the 
opening  of  the  new  life  that  was  hardly  to  know  an 
idle  hour.     It  was  in  these  early  efforts  that  his  atten- 

2S 


tion  was  first  attracted  to  the  sore  bodily  needs  that 
so  often  lie  behind  the  spiritual  wants  of  those  who 
go  astray  ;  and  no  monitor  was  needed  to  point  out  to 
this  young  soldier  of  the  Cross  that  here  was  opened 
a  new  path  of  toil,  as  broad  and  as  long  as  the  one  he 
had  already  marked  out  for  his  efforts.  We  can  rest 
assured  that  he  entered  upon  it  without  hesitation. 
This  readiness  to  take  upon  himself  new  cares,  with- 
out pleading  the  sense  of  duty  already  fulfilled,  was 
one  of  the  finest  traits  in  his  character,  and  it  was 
justly  said,  in  an  eloquent  tribute  to  his  memory,  that 
he  seemed  to  have  grasped  in  its  best  and  broadest 
sense  the  true  moral  of  the  parable  of  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan. He  never  wearied  of  asking  himself  "  Who 
is  my  neighbor  ?  "  and  of  finding  his  answer  in  the 
dwellings  of  the  sinful,  the  ignorant,  and  the  poor, 
in  the  neglected  and  homeless  children  of  the  streets, 
in  the  unfortunates  crushed  down  by  the  double  bur- 
den of  sickness  and  poverty,  and  in  the  poor  Magda- 
len hurrying  along  her  wretched  road  to  ruin.  In  his 
efforts  to  befriend  these  he  combined  the  very  best 
elements  of  wise  philanthropy — the  love  of  God  and 
human  kind  that  prompted  action,  unsparing  liberality 
to  the  utmost  limit  of  his  means,  and  untiring  personal 

effort  in  guiding   measures    for  relief  to  a  proper  and 

26 


enduring  maturity.  Strong  as  were  his  sympathies, 
they  were  controlled  by  a  sagacious  appreciation  of 
the  evils  of  misdirected  and  ill-advised  charity  and 
indiscriminate  alms-giving;  these  always  excited  his 
manly  indignation  as  a  waste  of  valuable  means  to  a 
nobler  and  a  better  end. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  labors  among 
the  ignorant,  the  poor  and  the  erring,  were  not,  in 
his  case,  the  occupation  of  a  man  of  leisure.  They 
were  the  employment  of  hours  snatched  from  the 
active  business-life  of  a  man  making  his  own  way  in 
the  world,  a  consecration  to  the  service  of  his  God 
of  minutes  doubly  valuable  in  the  early  efforts  to  ac- 
quire a  competency.  That  he  found  the  time,  with- 
out neglecting  his  fellow-creatures,  to  aid  in  the 
development  and  extension  of  a  business  that  eventu- 
ally became  very  prosperous  is  but  additional  testi- 
mony to  the  vigor  of  his  manhood  ;  that  he  did  not 
amass  great  wealth  was  due  simply  to  his  considerate 
liberality  and  his  entire  want  of  sordid  ambition. 

His   impelling  sense   of  duty  was   very  strong,  but 

beneath   it  lay  a  deep  and  tender  compassion  for  the 

waifs   and  strays  of  the  world,  and  an  abundant  store 

of  sympathy  with   the    distressed    in  every  station  of 

life.      This   kindliness    of    heart   expressed   itself  in   a 

27 


multitude  of  ways  quite  apart  from  his  organized 
benevolent  work,  but  so  quietly  that  its  record  must 
live  in  the  hearts  of  those  alone  who  have  proved 
the  measure  of  his  charity.  It  bred  in  him  an  earnest 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  others  that  even  led  him 
to  kindly  chide  truant  children  in  the  street  just  as 
his  conscience  impelled  him  to  fearlessly  rebuke  vice 
wherever  met.  With  this  tender  compassion  for  the 
unfortunate,  and  with  a  serenity  of  mind  that  enabled 
him  to  face  all  troubles  with  almost  unruffled  calm, 
he  combined  a  nature  manly,  courageous,  and  self- 
reliant  to  the  last  degree.  He  met  such  wrongs  and 
misfortunes  as  fell  to  his  lot  with  quiet  dignity  and 
without  complaint ;  his  generous  nature,  ever  ready  to 
do  battle  for  others,  was  slow  to  utter  reproach  for  per- 
sonal grievances. 

His  manner  bore  out  the  spirit  of  this  considera- 
tion for  others.  With  somewhat  of  the  formal  polite- 
ness of  the  old  school,  it  was  uniformly  affable  without 
condescension.  His  simple  code  of  etiquette  was 
founded  on  the  Golden  Rule  ;  it  knew  no  distinction 
of  rank,  and  those  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life  re- 
ceived the  finest  flower  of  his  courtesy  as  freely  as  the 
rich.  His  perfect  candor  enabled  all  who  were  worthy 
of  his  friendship  to  know  him  thoroughly.     It  is  not 

88 


asserting  too  much  to  say  that  there  was  not  in  his 
nature  the  faintest  trace  of  disingenuousness  ;  he  was 
as  frank,  as  sincere,  and,  it  may  be  added,  as  unsus- 
picious as  a  child. 

It  was  his  good  fortune  to  possess  the  abiding 
friendship  of  many  whom  Providence  had  blessed  with 
bountiful  wealth  and  the  better  store  of  Christian 
charity,  and  the  unsparing  liberality  of  these  friends 
aided  him  again  and  again  in  founding  and  extending 
many  of  the  good  works  which  remain  as  monuments 
of  this  admirable  fellowship.  In  one  branch  of  his 
work  he  had,  for  many  years,  the  devoted  assistance 
of  two  noble  women,  who  toiled  faithfully  at  his  side, 
asking  no  other  reward  than  that  they  might  serve  the 
same  Master.  This  enduring  friendship  and  freely 
given  aid  were  very  dear  to  him  ;  and  the  tears  that 
fell  beside  the  silent  form  of  him  they  had  loved  to 
follow  in  the  pleasant  toil  of  so .  many  years  bore 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  love  born  of  this  beautiful 
companionship. 

If  we  turn  from   this   retrospect  of  his   life  abroad 

to  a  contemplation  of  his  life  at  his  own  fireside,  we 

find    him    always    self-denying,    and   with   affectionate 

consideration  subjecting  his   own  simple  tastes  to  the 

comfort  of  those  about  him.     His  devotion  as  a  hus- 

29 


band  is  unmarred  by  any  taint  of  selfishness  ;  his  in- 
dulgence as  an  affectionate  father  is  tempered  by  a 
wise  but  considerate  discretion ;  his  loyalty  as  a 
friend  is  constant  and  enduring  through  all  trials  of 
adversity. 

In  calling  to  mind  our  recollections  of  him,  per- 
haps our  most  loving  memories  are  those  of  his  de- 
clining years.  The  commanding  form,  the  ruddy  and 
finely  emotional  face,  the  kindly  eye,  and  the  benevo- 
lent smile,  all  seemed  to  gather  new  beauty  from  the 
snowy  locks  and  waiting  step  of  age.  There  was 
much  pathos  in  the  closing  days  of  his  life  ;  although 
there  was  almost  complete  command  of  all  the  facul- 
ties, and  an  unwearied  sense  of  duty  to  be  done,  it 
was  evident  to  those  familiar  with  his  character  that 
a  growing  anxiety  was  creeping  upon  him  in  the  fear 
that  the  days  of  his  usefulness  were  drawing  to  an 
end.  With  this  increasing  sense  of  age  there  was  no 
thought  of  exemption  from  active  participation  in 
benevolent  work  ;  his  wish  was  that  he  might  die  in 
harness,  and  it  was  not  until  the  severe  winter  of 
1 880-8 1  that  he  at  last  yielded  to  the  urgent  en- 
treaties of  those  who  were  near  and  dear  to  him,  and 
permitted  himself  to  be  detained  at  home  in  inclement 

weather    and  occasionally  at  night  when  the  day  had 

30 


been  unusually  wearisome.  This  concession  was  made 
with  a  good-natured  mockery  of  such  precautions,  but 
it  is  probable  that  an  inward  monitor  more  than  once 
breathed  a  warning  too  marked  to  be  unheeded. 

One  rather  unusual  trait  in  his  character,  which 
thoroughly  illustrates  his  perfect  sincerity  of  heart, 
was  his  custom  of  praying  aloud  when  alone  at  his 
devotions.  He  evidently  did  not  consider  this  in  any 
light  except  as  the  most  natural  and  proper  manner 
of  offering  prayer  and  supplication  to  the  Almighty, 
nor  would  it  probably  have  become  known  to  others 
had  he  not  chanced  to  relate  an  incident  involving  a 
mention  of  this  habit.  It  occurred  during  his  absence, 
alone,  from  home.  Late  in  his  life  a  lady  told  him 
that  on  this  occasion  she  occupied  an  apartment  ad- 
joining his,  at  the  hotel.  She  was  very  young  at  the 
time  and  exceedingly  timid,  and  on  retiring  to  her 
room  for  the  night  she  was  greatly  disturbed  at  dis- 
covering that  a  door  communicating  with  the  next 
apartment  was  without  fastening  of  any  kind  on  her 
side.  She  retired  in  considerable  trepidation,  and 
was  soon  after  much  alarmed  by  hearing  a  man's 
heavy  footsteps  in  the  adjoining  room.  While  she 
thus  lay  in  a  fever  of  apprehension,  she  suddenly  heard 

the   voice   of  her  neighbor  raised   in  fervent    prayer — 

31 


"and  then"  said  the  old  gentleman,   with  moistening 
eyes,  "then  she  went  quietly  to  sleep." 

For  some  reason  this  little  incident  moved  him 
deeply  ;  he  never  referred  to  it  without  that  emotional 
working  of  the  features  so  familiar  to  all  who  knew 
him  well,  and  surely  all  who  loved  him  will  bless  the 
few  words  in  which  he  was  thus  led  to  tell  of  his  un- 
affected approach  to  the  throne  of  Heavenly  Grace. 
How  sweet  it  is  to  know  that  the  last  words  spoken 
by  the  lips  that  never  uttered  a  selfish  wish,  nor  an 
impure  thought,  were  supplications  to  the  Almighty 
that  in  His  mercy  He  would  bless,  preserve,  and  keep 
all  who  are  left  to  shed  a  tear  over  that  peaceful  grave. 
We  may  be  sure  that  on  that  last  night  upon  earth, 
when  the  gates  of  the  Golden  City  were  already  open- 
ing to  welcome  this  worn  and  faithful  servant  of  the 
Lord,  none  of  us  were  forgotten  in  the  fervent  out- 
pouring of  that  affectionate  and  unselfish  heart.  It 
was  a  fitting  end  to  that  blameless  life  that  the  lips 
should  close  in  prayer  and  the  eyes  in  peaceful  sleep, 
to  open  in  praises  at  the  feet  of  the  Redeemer  and 
in  view  of  the  city  of  the  Great  King. 

New  York,  March  31,  1881. 

32 


JPunpral  #prfiirp8. 


MADISON   SQUARE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 
'January  24,  1881. 


The    REV.    DR.   CHARLES    H.   PARKHURST     read    the 
following  Selections  : 

"  Because  he  hath  set  his  love  upon  me,  therefore  will 
I  deliver  him  :  I  will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath 
known  my  name.  He  shall  call  upon  me,  and  I  will 
answer  him  :  I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble  ;  I  will  deliver 
him,  and  honor  him.  With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him, 
and  shew  him  my  salvation." 

"  He  that  had  received  five  talents  came  and  brought 
other  five  talents,  saying,  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me 
five  talents  :  behold,  I  have  gained  beside  them  five  talents 
more.  His  Lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done,  thou  good 
and  faithful  servant  :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things  :  enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord." 

"  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of 
my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  :  hence- 
forth there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness, 
which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  mc  at 
that   day :  and  not  to  me   only,  but   unto   all  them  also 

that  love  his  appearing." 

35 


"  For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and 
this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality.  So  when  this  cor- 
ruptible shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal 
shall  have  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  be  brought  to 
pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is  swallowed  up 
in  victory 

Address  by  the  REV.  DR.  ROSWELL  D.  HITCHCOCK. 

The  part  I  take  in  this  service  must  needs  be  very 
brief.  Another  duty,  which  is  imperative,  stands  at  the 
door.  The  voice  is  silent  to-day,  and  for  evermore 
within  these  walls,  which  might  have  spoken  to  us  to- 
day out  of  the  fulness  of  personal  knowledge,  with  an 
emphasis  and  a  tenderness  of  utterance  which  could 
come  only  of  a  long  pastoral  acquaintance. 

I  knew  our  friend  as  he  was  known  to  many  of  his 
fellow-worshippers  around  this  altar.  Yonder  square 
and  the  streets  that  border  it  will  be  the  more  stony  and 
the  more  cold  to  me  in  all  the  years  to  come,  for  the 
vanished  shadow  of  that  manly  and  benign  and  Chris- 
tian presence.  I  choose  to  think  of  him  as  incarnating 
those  simple  laws  and  principles  of  Christian  life,  to 
which  we  must  all  come  at  last :  not  what  he  believed, 
but  what  he  felt,  and  what  he  was,  and  what  he  did. 
Our  Lord  has  epitomized  it  all :  love  to  God  and  love  to 

man. 

36 


A  few  days  before  he  died,  at  his  last  visit  to  the 
Juvenile  Asylum  at  Washington  Heights,  of  which  he 
had  been  President  since  its  organization,  he  addressed 
the  children,  as  usual,  and  in  closing  said  :  "  Children, 
I  want  you  to  meet  me  in  heaven.  I  expect  to  go  there 
myself.  Why  should  I  not  ?  We  have  the  promise  that 
those  who  love  and  fear  God  shall  go  there  :  I  love  and 
fear  him.  Why  shall  I  not  claim  his  promise  ?  "  This 
is  the  order  :  first  the  love  of  God,  and  then  the  fear 
of  God  to  bind  us  faithful  and  for  ever  to  his  service. 
When  the  fear  of  God  is  put  first,  as  it  was  by  Moham- 
med, it  indicates  a  sad  decline  of  religion.  The  stern 
voice  of  the  prophet  rang  over  a  prostrate  and  unfruit- 
ful Christianity.  It  would  be  a  bad  hour  for  us  when 
we  ceased  to  fear  God:  it  will  be  a  worse  hour  when 
we  fail  to  put  our  love  of  God  before  our  fear.  In 
these  times  we  need  very  much — and  all  the  more 
because  of  a  sentiment  of  weakness  which  may  take  us 
to  the  other  heresy — we  need  now  especially  to  empha- 
size love  to  God.  This  great  heart  \pointing  to  the 
casket]  was  full  of  it.  How  easily  he  was  touched  ! 
But  he  did  not  forget  to  fear  God.  Punctiliousness 
of  Christian  service  toward  God  marked  all  his  course. 
He  was  as  careful  to  be,  and  to  do,  all  that  he  thought 
God  wished  him  to  be,  and  to  do,  as  though  he  were  to 

enter  heaven  at  last  on    the  ground  of  his  own   merits, 

37 


and  not,  as  he  always  expressed  it,  through  simple 
faith  in  Christ.  But  to  this  love  and  service  of  God 
he  joined  also  in  an  eminent  degree — and  that,  per- 
haps, was  most  characteristic  of  him — love  and  service  to 
man. 

It  is  now  nearly  nine  years  since  my  friend,  and  for 
a  time  my  colleague,  Dr.  Thomas  C.  Upperman,  lay 
dying  in  New  York.  In  one  of  my  last  interviews  with 
him — (and  his  life  had  been  marked  by  great  consecra- 
tion in  humanitarian  work) — he  said,  without  any  affecta- 
tion, without  any  attempt  to  say  anything  that  had  not 
been  said  before,  but  out  of  an  honest  heart,  "I  think 
that  when  I  get  on  the  other  side  I  will  ask  to  be  sent 
to  the  spirits  in  prison."  The  service  of  man  had  been 
the  business  of  his  life,  and  the  ruling  passion  was  strong 
in  death.     So  was  it  with  our  friend. 

It  is  nearly  fifty  years  since,  under  the  ministry  of  Dr. 
Cox,  who  has  recently  gone  to  his  reward,  he  signed 
himself  the  Lord's  servant  and  served  him  from  that 
time.  This  revival  in  May,  1831,  was  the  one  which 
brought  in  so  much  of  what  has  been  the  power  and 
fruitfulness  of  the  Christian  church  since  then.  No 
sooner  had  he  given  himself  to  the  Lord  than  he  be- 
gan his  work,  which  has  filled  up  and  crowded  more 
and  more  these  fifty  years.     He  began  at  once  to  work 

for  man.     And  what  a  happy  life  he  had !    What  is  it 

38 


that  we   regret  when   we    come    together    on   an   occa- 
sion like  this  ? 

I  remember  one  funeral  scene,  which,  after  all,  was 
not  funereal,  in  Joppa,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  when 
friends  had  brought  out — what  ?  Her  treasures  of  purple 
and  gold  ?  The  tunics  and  the  outer  garments  which 
she  had  made  for  others.  The  treasures  we  take  with  us 
through  the  vale  are  the  gifts  we  have  left  behind  us.  Oh, 
what  a  happy  life,  to  feel  that  every  day  we  have  tried 
to  do  more  for  others  than  we  have  been  doing  for  our- 
selves !  The  shadow  falls  now  on  a  stricken  household. 
The  shadow  travels  around  and  will  darken  every  hearth- 
stone here  to-day  in  its  turn.  We  shall  lie  shrouded  in 
death.  Our  turn  will  come.  Over  the  hills  of  Moab, 
many,  many  centuries  ago,  there  rang  out  these  words 
that  will  never  be  silent  in  the  air:  "Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his." 

Prayer  by  REV.  DR.  WILLIAM  R.  PAXTON. 

O  Lord,  thou  art  over  all,  blessed  forevermore.  We 
adore  thee  ;  thou  art  the  Father  of  our  spirits  and  the 
framer  of  our  bodies.  We  bless  and  magnify  thy  great 
and  holy  name.  Thou  art  the  Lord  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  we  hope  in  thee. 
We  look  to  thee  and  realize  that  thou  art  our  Father 
and  our  friend.     We  can  trust  in  thee  at  all  times.     In 

39 


every  hour  of  darkness,  in  every  moment  of   sorrow,  in 

every  day   of   trial,  we   can   trust  in  thee  ;   for   thou   art 

around  and  about  us  with  thy  loving  kindness,  and  thou 

art  ordering  the  circumstances  of  our  being  here,  so  that 

all  things  are  working  together  for  good  to  those  who 

love  God  and  are  the  called  according  to  his   purpose. 

We    adore    this    wonderful    interworking    of    things    in 

Divine    providence    so   as   to    accomplish   thy  wise    and 

gracious  purposes  ;  and  in  every  hour  of  doubt,  when  all 

things  are  troubled  around  us,  we  feel  that  we  can  rest 

simply  in  God  and  feel  sure  that  all  is  well.     We  come 

this  morning  with  our  hearts  oppressed  with  grief :  but, 

O  God,  thou  canst  appoint  beauty  for  ashes  and  the  oil 

of  joy  for  mourning.      Give  us   thy  gracious  presence, 

thy  holy  benediction,  that  our  sorrow  may  be  so  sanctified 

to  the  good  of  all  our  hearts  that  we  shall  feel  that  the 

trial    is   appointed    and    blest   of    thee,    and    that    it    is 

ordered  for  our  spiritual  good. 

We  come,  O  God,  to  ask  that  thy  blessing  may  rest 

upon  this  family  in  their  time  of  affliction.     Thou  hast 

taken  away  one  who  has  been  very  dear  unto  them  and 

whom  thou  hadst  spared  to  live  to  old  age.     O  Father,  do 

thou  come  in  with  the  consolations  of  thy  blessed  Spirit. 

Comfort  them  with  that  comfort  which  thou  alone  canst 

impart,    and  when   they  feel   the   aching  void   in   their 

hearts,  do  thou  come  in  and  fill  it  with  thyself. 

40 


May  thy  blessing  rest  upon  this  church  of  which  he 
was  a  member  ;  and  grant,  O  God,  that  his  place  may  be 
filled  by  thy  presence,  and  that  the  grace  of  God  may  rest 
upon  this  people  and  upon  the  officers  of  this  church, 
with  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  mingle  in  offices  of 
love  and  sympathy,  and  with  whom  he  worked  hand  in 
hand  in  the  great  interests  of  thy  kingdom. 

We  ask  that  thy  blessing  may  rest  upon  the  City  Mis- 
sion which  he  bore  so  many  years  upon  his  heart.  O 
God,  may  thy  providence  guide,  and  may  the  spirit  of 
God  rest  upon  those  who  labor  for  its  interests.  And 
now  that  he  who  has  so  long  carried  this  burden  and  borne 
this  interest  in  his  prayers  at  the  mercy-seat,  now  that  he 
is  taken  away,  we  commend  this  great  interest  to  thy  care 
and  keeping,  and  ask  that  thy  blessing  may  be  upon  it, 
that  thy  providence  may  guide  it,  and  that  it  may  become 
an  instrument  of  great  good. 

O  Lord,  we  gather  this  morning  as  those  who  have 
known  our  departed  father  in  Christ  and  mourn  that  he 
is  taken  from  usr  but  to  rejoice  that  he  has  gone  to  thee. 
We  bear  in  our  memories  the  record  of  his  blessed  lifej 
of  his  works  of  faith,  and  of  his  labors  of  love. 

We  thank  thee  for  all  that  thou  didst  permit  him  to 

do,  for  the  long  life  of   usefulness   to  which  thou  didst 

spare  him,  for  that  great  loving  heart  by  which  he  won 

so  many  to  the  cause  of  benevolence  and  philanthropy, 

41 


and  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  O  God,  do  thou  bless  his 
influence  to  our  good,  and  now  that  he  has  passed  away, 
may  the  memory  of  his  past  action  and  past  influence  be 
carried  with  us,  that  in  all  our  spheres  of  labor  we  may 
be  animated  to  work  as  he  worked,  to  trust  as  he 
trusted,  to  hope  as  he  hoped.  Grant  that  thy  blessing 
may  be  upon  each  and  all  of  us  as  we  assemble  this 
morning.  Guide  those  who  shall  speak,  and  let  thy 
benediction  be  upon  this  assembly,  so  that  we  shall  feel 
it  was  good  for  us  to  be  here,  that  God  has  been  in  the 
midst  of  us,  that  thou  hast  spoken  to  us  out  of  this 
solemn  providence  by  such  voices  as  have  reached  our 
hearts,  and  shall  influence  us  for  good  in  the  rest  of 
our  lives.  Let  grace,  mercy,  and  peace  be  upon  each 
one,  and  upon  this  assembly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  and  Redeemer.     Amen. 

Address  by  the  REV.  DR.  WILLIAM  M.  TAYLOR. 

That  was  a  wonderful  description  of  a  good  man's 
life  and  death  which  was  given  by  the  apostle  Paul  in 
the  synagogue  of  Antioch,  when,  having  occasion  in  his 
argument  to  refer  to  the  Psalmist,  he  said,  "  David,  having 
served  his  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  he  fell  asleep." 
These  were  the  words  which  came  into  my  mind  when  I 

was  first  informed  of  the  departure  of  our  venerable  and 

42 


venerated  brother.  Having  served  his  generation  by  the 
will  of  God,  he  has  fallen  asleep.  A  good  man's  life  is 
the  service  of  his  brother.  The  very  soul  of  his  good- 
ness is  devotion  to  the  will  of  God.  With  David  he  can 
say,  "  O  Lord,  I  am  thy  servant,  the  son  of  thine  hand- 
maid :  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds."  With  Paul  he  tries 
to  say,  "  Neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so 
that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry 
[the  service]  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to 
testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  With  a  greater 
than  either  he  aims  after  that  consecration  to  God  which 
will  enable  him  to  say,  "  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me  and  to  finish  his  work." 

Now,  one  could  not  come  in  the  most  casual  way 
into  contact  with  our  dear  friend  without  knowing  that 
the  soul  of  his  goodness  was  devotion  to  the  will  of 
God.  But,  then,  the  Christian  service  of  his  God  takes 
its  peculiar  character  from  the  nature  of  his  generation. 
David,  by  the  will  of  God,  served  his  generation,  and 
his  goodness  ran  into  directions  which  were  defined  for 
it  by  the  conditions  and  requirements  of  his  age.  And 
so  it  took  directions  which  were  not  taken  by  the  good- 
ness of  godly  men  in  later  times.  So  also  with  the  Apos- 
tles and  those  who  have  come  after  them.  The  great 
law,    "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 

heart,  soul,  strength,  and  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 

43 


self,"  remains  forever  unchangeable,  but  there  is  a  new 
interpretation  given  to  the  requirements  of  that  law  for 
every  generation,  by  the  necessities  of  the  times.  And 
so  in  Christian  beneficence,  evermore  the  old  order 
changes,  giving  place  to  the  new,  and  God  fulfils  him- 
self in  many  ways,  lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt 
the  world.  So  Christian  benevolence  is  prevented  from 
stereotyping  itself,  and  is  evermore  finding  new  forms  in 
which  to  manifest  itself  before  the  eyes  of  men,  and  to 
show  its  devotion  to  the  great  God  himself.  The  com- 
mand of  the  Saviour,  "Go  thou  and  do  likewise,"  to  the 
lawyer,  did  not  mean  that  he  should  wait  until  he  saw 
the  poor  traveller  lying  precisely  in  the  emergency  in 
which  he  was  found  by  the  wayside,  and  then  that  he 
should  do  precisely  for  that  poor  one  what  the  Samari- 
tan did  for  the  man  in  trouble.  No,  it  means  this  :  that 
we  should  ask  ourselves  continually,  "  Where  shall  I  find 
to-day  the  representative  of  that  poor,  half-dead  man, 
and  what  is  there  for  me  to  do  that  corresponds  with 
the  oil  and  the  money  which  his  benefactor  gave  him  ? " 
And  these  were  the  questions  which  our  venerated  father 
was  continually  putting  to  himself  :  "  Where  shall  I  find 
this  poor,  half-dead  one?"  he  says.  "I  see  him  in  the 
degraded  woman  of  the  street,  and  I  shall  open  for  her 
a  Home  for  Fallen  Girls.     Where  shall  I  find  him  ?     I  see 

him  in  the  juvenile  delinquents  of  the  city,  the  waifs  of 

44 


the  street,  for  whom  no  man  cares,  and  I  will  provide  for 
him  a  Juvenile  Asylum.  Where  shall  I  find  him  ?  I  see 
him  in  the  ragged  poor  ones  neglected  by  society  as  a 
whole,  and  I  will  institute  for  him  an  Association  for  the 
Relief  of  the  Poor.  Where  shall  I  find  him  ?  I  find  him 
in  the  ignorant  and  depraved  among  the  poor,  who  know 
yet  nothing  or  next  to  nothing  of  Christ  and  his  salva- 
tion, and  for  whose  souls  no  man  is  caring,  and  I  will 
institute  for  him  a  Tract  Society  and  a  City  Mission 
Society."  And  so,  day  by  day  and  year  by  year,  through 
those  fifty  years  of  service,  he  has  been  putting  this 
question  continually  to  himself.  His  service  of  his  gen- 
eration was  emphatically  the  service  of  his  God,  for  it 
was  his  love  to  Christ  that  inspired  him  to  it  all ;  but 
just  as  truly  the  service  of  his  God  was  the  service  of 
his  generation,  for  he  has  been  the  means  of  irrigating 
the  city  by  many  streams  of  beneficence.  Having  served 
his  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  he  fell  asleep.  What 
a  beautiful  description  of  a  good  man's  death,  and  how 
appropriate  to  the  manner  of  our  father's  dying  !  He 
fell  asleep.  Sudden  death — sudden  glory.  There  used 
to  be  a  great  horror  and  dread  of  sudden  death,  that 
have  found  expression  in  the  language  of  a  litany  which 
all  admire:  "From  sudden  death,  good  Lord  deliver  us." 
But  I  think    there   is  a  mistaken    meaning  here,    and   it 

should  rather  be,    "  From    death  unprepared,"  for,   after 

45 


all — though  it  was  a  dramatist  that  said  the  words — "  The 
readiness  is  all,  the  readiness  is  all."  And  if  one  be  pre- 
pared, it  makes  no  matter  though  the  messenger  come 
for  him  with  muffled  footsteps  in  the  hours  of  sleep — 
nay,  rather,  it  is  most  of  all  an  honor  to  go,  when  the 
earthly  sleep  fades  into  the  heavenly  rest. 

He  fell  asleep.  That  tells  of  peace.  We  do  not 
readily  go  to  sleep  amid  noise  and  confusion,  but  when 
all  is  silent  around.  And  so  I  think  it  is  not  stretching 
the  figure — "  he  fell  asleep  " — to  say  that  it  is  an  indica- 
tion of  the  peacefulness  of  the  Christian  heart  in  dying. 
What  a  contrast  when  the  words  were  used  regarding 
Stephen  !  The  multitude  was  stoning  him,  and  the  howl- 
ing crowd  was  around  him,  while  Stephen  was  calling 
upon  God,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit," — "and  when 
he  had  said  this  he  fell  asleep."  No  matter  what  was 
around  him,  there  was  peace  within.  And  that  was  true 
of  our  friend  and  father. 

Then  I  think  we  may  accept  the  teaching  of  the  figure 

to  this  effect,  that  there  is  rest  in  sleep.     Our  father  and 

our  friend,  after  the  work  and  the  fever  and  the  worry 

of  life,  rests  with  Jesus.     And  I  think  in  this  generation 

that  one  great  idea  which  guided  him  comes  closely  to 

our  hearts.     Year  after  year,  from  early  morning  until  far 

into  the  night,  we  toil  at  our  various  pursuits,  and  even 

those  who  are  engaged  continually  in  works  of  benefi- 

46 


cence,  though  they  never  weary  of  the  work,  are  often 
weary  in  it.  And  so,  I  think,  to  many,  the  idea  con- 
nected with  heaven,  that  is  most  attractive,  is  that  of  rest. 
Our  brother  is  at  rest. 

Then  it  tells  of  a  future  awakening.  We  must  not,  of 
course,  stretch  the  figure  so  far  as  to  make  it  mean  that 
the  spirit  is  unconscious  after  death  ;  for  they  who  are  in 
Christ  depart  immediately  to  be  with  Christ.  Still,  the 
body  is  resting,  and  for  that  there  is  an  awakening  be- 
yond. The  resurrection  is  hinted  at  in  this  falling  asleep  ; 
and  so,  even  in  the  grief  of  dying,  there  is  the  comfort  of 
the  reappearing.  Our  brother  shall  rise  again.  We  shall 
see  him  and  our  hearts  shall  rejoice  ;  and  in  the  faith  of 
that  reunion,  when  in  purified  soul  and  body  reunited  we 
shall  be  together  with  the  Lord,  we  may  not  only  wipe 
our  tears  to-day,  but  sing  a  song  of  triumph.  He  shall 
rise  again.  There  is  to  be  an  awakening.  "  My  set  time 
in  the  grave,"  says  Job,  "  will  I  wait  till  my  change  comes. 
Then  thou  shalt  call  and  I  will  answer :  thou  shalt  have 
respect  unto  the  work  of  thy  hands."  Long  ago,  when  I 
was  a  village  schoolmaster  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  I 
sometimes  wandered  out  by  the  banks  of  the  Inverness 
for  an  evening  walk,  and  came  upon  the  churchyard  in 
which  there  were  the  ruins  of  an  old  church,  part  of 
which  had  been  roofed  in  and  made  a  burial-place  for  the 
family  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome  that  lived  hard  by ;  and  as 

47 


I  examined  all  about,  I  got  a  lesson  of  faith  and  trust 
which  I  have  never  forgotten.  I  found  a  flat  gravestone 
with  the  moss  and  lichens  all  growing  into  the  letters,  and 
with  a  nail  I  scraped  them  out  until  I  read  these  words  : 

"  I  go  to  the  grave  as  to  my  bed, 
Yet  not  there  to  remain, 
Awhile  for  to  repose  therein, 
And  then  to  rise  again." 

The  poetry  is  doggerel  enough,  but  the  faith  is  some- 
thing that  no  earthly  power  could  have  reached.  Then, 
looking  at  the  portal,  into  the  graveyard  of  the  Lome 
family,  I  was  surprised  to  see  the  device  of  a  phoenix 
rising  from  the  ashes  of  the  past,  and  the  inscription 
round  it,  "  I  bide  my  time."  So  may  the  Christian 
when  he  goes  to  the  grave  always  say,  "  I  bide  my  time. 
My  set  time  in  the  grave  will  I  wait  till  my  change 
comes." 

"We  make  the  grave  our  bed,  and  then  are  gone. 
Thus  at  the  shut  of  eve  the  weary  bird 
Leaves  the  wide  air,  and  in  some  lonely  brake, 
Cowers  down  and  dozes  till  the  dawn  of  day, 
Then  flaps  her  well-fledged  wings  and  bears  away." 

In  the  faith  of  that  resurrection  is  it  well  with  you  ? 
Nor   can   we   forget   the  influence   of    a   good    man. 

Here  was    Paul   quoting   David   and   drawing  from  him 

48 


hundreds  of  years  after  he  died.  So  this  man's  life  will 
have  its  influence  long,  long  after  his  death.  There  are 
thousands  in  the  far  West  bearing  the  marks  of  his  im- 
press upon  them  to-day,  and  there  are  multitudes  of  his 
coadjutors  still  with  us  who  will  feel,  while  they  live,  the 
influence  of  his  example.  He  has  not  taken  that  with 
him.  It  will  remain  and  work,  after.  God  grant  that  it 
may  move  some  of  the  young  portion  of  this  audience  to- 
day, to  give  themselves  in  the  early  vigor  of  their  man- 
hood to  the  work  which  has  so  glorified  this  life  that  has 
gone.  I  have  been  impressed  during  this  last  two  or 
three  years  with  the  fact  of  the  disappearance  from  the 
midst  of  us  of  so  many  gray  heads  that  were  well  known 
among  us  for  their  works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love. 
Where  are  their  successors  ?  You  should  be  their  suc- 
cessors, my  young  friends,  who  are  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Christian  church  ;  and  let  the  service  this  morning  be  to 
you  an  appeal  to  come  and  consecrate  yourselves  to  this 
noble  work,  to  carry  on  these  things  which  our  father 
here  began  and  so  steadfastly  maintained  through  life. 
It  lies  upon  one's  heart  sometimes  as  a  burden,  that  there 
are  so  few  among  the  young  men  in  the  city,  of  influence 
and  position,  willing  to  take  the  stand  so  long  maintained 
by  our  father  and  friend,  around  whose  remains  we  are 
this  morning  assembled. 

Let  his  disappearance  from  among  us  move  multitudes 

49 


to  come  forward  and  say,  "  Here  we  are,  to  do  a  little,  at 
least,  of  the  good  work  for  which  he  was  so  honored." 

A  life  like  this  demands  no  tears  when  it  is  taken 
away,  except  for  ourselves.  We  mourn  for  his  absence, 
but  we  do  not  mourn  for  him.  He  has  gone  to  be  with 
Christ  ;  and  there  are  many  among  us  who  will  re-echo 
the  words  of  my  honored  friend  who  preceded  me,  "  Let 
me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be 
like  his." 

HYMN. 

Abide  with  me  !     Fast  falls  the  eventide, 
The  darkness  deepens — Lord,  with  me  abide  ! 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  O  abide  with  me ! 

Swift  to  its  close  ebbs  out  life's  little  day ; 
Earth's  joys  grow  dim,  its  glories  pass  away ; 
Change  and  decay  in  all  around  I  see  ; 

0  thou  who  changest  not,  abide  with  me! 

1  need  thy  presence  every  passing  hour ; 

What  but  thy  grace  can  foil  the  tempter's  power? 
Who,  like  thyself,  my  guide  and  stay  can  be  ? 
Through  cloud  and  sunshine,  Lord,  abide  with  me  ! 

I  fear  no  foe,  with  thee  at  hand  to  bless  ; 

Ills  have  no  weight,  and  tears  no  bitterness; 
50 


Where  is  death's  sting  ?  where,  grave,  thy  victory  ? 
I  triumph  still,  if  thou  abide  with  me. 

Hold  thou  thy  cross  before  my  closing  eyes  ; 
Shine  through  the  gloom  and  point  me  to  the  skies  ; 
Heaven's  morning  breaks,  and  earth's  vain  shadows  flee ; 
In  life,  in  death,  O  Lord,  abide  with  me  ! 

Benediction  by  the  REV.  DR.  WILLIAM  ORMISTON. 

May  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of 

God  the  Father,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be 

with  you  all.     Amen, 

Si 


#PFtnO!K 

By    the    REV.    DR.    CHARLES    H.    PARKHURST. 


MADISON    SQUARE   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH, 
Sunday  Mornings  March  27,  1881. 


#pptnon. 


It  has  been  said  that  all  good  lives  belong  to  the 
public.  Especially  does  death  remove  from  them  the 
seal  of  privacy,  and  make  it  equally  our  privilege  and 
duty  to  convert  them  to  purposes  of  general  advantage, 
and  draw  from  them  suggestions  and  incentives  such  as 
they  may  be  severally  suited  to  convey. 

The  ranks  of  our  church-membership  have  been  in- 
vaded with  singular  and  painful  frequency  since  the 
opening  of  the  year,  and  several  instances  afforded  of 
lives  lived  long,  consecratedly  and  fruitfully,  any  one 
of  which,  rightly  considered,  would  be  profitable  to  this 
congregation  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness. 

Out  of  these  I  have  selected  for  a  brief  sketch  and 
characterization  this  morning,  the  life  of  Mr.  A.  R. 
Wetmore,  who  fell  asleep  at  his  residence  in  this  city, 
January  21,  1881,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

More  as  an  introduction  than  as  a  text  I  have  chosen 

55 


a  portion  of  Scripture  from  the  Book  of  Job,  in  the  29th 
chapter,  beginning  with  the  nth  verse  : 

When  the  ear  heard  me  then  it  blessed  me  :  and 
when  the  eye  saw  me  it  gave  witness  to  me. 

Because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the 
fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 

The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me,  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

I  put  on  righteousness  and  it  clothed  me  :  my  judg- 
ment was  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem. 

I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 

I  was  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the  cause  which  I 
knew  not  I  searched  out. 

Our  object  this  morning  is  not  eulogy.  We  desire 
to  get  Mr.  Wetmore's  life  and  character  before  us  only 
that  it  may  preach  to  us.  A  man  is  the  best  sermon. 
There  are  persons  all  about  us,  some  in  our  congrega- 
tion this  morning,  possibly,  who  listen  with  incredulity 
and  ill-disguised  impatience  to  formally  prepared  dis- 
courses. It  is  on  their  account,  especially,  that  I  would 
see  introduced  into  our  pulpit  discipline  a  strong  bio- 
graphical element.  There  is  no  getting  away  from  a 
life.  Even  our  Holy  Scriptures  are  made  up  for  the 
most  part  only  of  short,  trenchant  biographies.  Truth 
and  Gospel    in    the  concrete  come  nearer   to  men   than 

in  the  abstract.     It  is  suitable,  therefore,  that  very  much 

56 


should  be  made  of  these  old,  precious  lives,  that  have 
been  intrenched  in  the  might  of  God,  and  that  have 
been  living  epistles  of  the  power  and  grace  of  his  Son. 
It  is  as  personal  power  that  the  Gospel  works  controll- 
ingly  among  men.  Christ  committed  his  Gospel  not 
to  paper  but  to  men.  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world."  "Ye 
are  the  light  of  the  world." 

It  is  the  part  of  our  discretion,  therefore,  that  we 
push  the  eminent  souls  of  the  earlier  and  later  saints 
into  the  world's  observation.  Though  men  ignore  Chris- 
tianity as  an  idea,  they  may  be  softened  and  enticed  by 
the  personal  results  which  it  yields.  The  people,  you 
will  remember,  were  averse  to  the  idea  that  Peter  could 
cure  the  lame  man  ;  but  "beholding  the  man  which  was 
healed  standing  with  them,  they  could  say  nothing 
against  it."  There  is  no  controverting  a  personal  fact. 
A  life,  there  is  no  getting  away  from.  Destroying  our 
sacred  books  would  not  blot  from  the  world  its  personal 
Christianity  ;  but  blotting  from  the  world  its  personal 
Christianity  would  render  obsolete  our  sacred  books. 
Christianity  is  not  records  but  men.  Society  gets  its 
impulses  from  person.  "The  life  was  the  light  of 
men."  That  was  written  of  Christ's  life,  but  it  holds 
of  all  life.  The  life  is  the  light  of  men.  "And  the 
Word  was  made  flesh."  All  word  needs  to  be  made 
flesh  before  it  works  forcefully  and  redemptively.      To 

57 


say  with  St.  Paul,  "I  know  whom  I  have  believed,"  is 
vastly  more  than  to  say,  I  know  what  I  have  believed. 
Men  are  not  stirred  by  neuter  influences.  Words  are 
a  feeble  matter  by  the  side  of  life.  Living  is  the  best 
preaching.  It  is  the  most  intelligible  preaching.  We 
do  not  understand  faith,  perhaps,  but  we  easily  appre- 
ciate a  man  of  faith.  Living  is  the  most  persuasive 
preaching.  Dr.  Peabody  once  said  that  were  Christians 
all  they  ought  to  be,  he  doubted  whether  there  would 
be  need  of  offering  any  other  evidence  for  Christianity 
than  the  lives  of  its  disciples.  "  Beholding  the  man  which 
was  healed  standing  with  them,  they  could  say  nothing 
against  it."  And  this  which  Dr.  Peabody  said  was 
expressed  a  long  time  earlier  by  St.  Paul  when  he  wrote 
in  his  letter  to  the  Thessalonians,  "Your  faith  to  God- 
ward  is  spread  abroad  in  every  place,  so  that  we  need 
not  to  speak  anything." 

In  our  sketch,  therefore,  of  the  splendid  activities 
of  this  benign  old  father  in  Israel,  I  want  any  among 
us  who  regard  Christianity  skeptically  when  viewed  in 
the  abstract,  to  give  ingenuous  regard  to  this  concrete 
personal  illustration  of  it,  and  to  frame  their  estimates 
of  Christianity,  not  from  forms  of  thought  but  from 
shapes  of  life. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  the  continuation  from  a  long  line 

of  godly  ancestry.      He   preserved   in   himself  impulses 

58 


and  tendencies  that  were  in  part  the  bequest  of  antece- 
dent generations.  It  seems  as  though  we  were  reading 
from  his  own  memoir  when  we  encounter  the  following 
words  occurring  in  an  obituary  notice  of  his  father. 

"He  was  strongly  attached  to  the  doctrines  of  grace 
as  presented  in  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  and 
Dutch  Reformed  Churches,  and  he  embraced  and  ad- 
hered to  them,  not  in  mere  speculative  regard  to  them 
as  orthodox  truths,  but  embodied  them  in  the  constant 
culture  of  Christian  experience,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
his  Christian  hope  and  service.  He  was  a  man  of  prayer, 
a  lover  of  the  house  and  people  of  God,  and  was  ready, 
in  the  measure  of  his  opportunity  and  ability,  for  every 
good  work  in  the  Master's  cause.  His  venerable  personal 
appearance,  combined  with  the  weight  of  his  acknowl- 
edged Christian  character,  marked  him  to  the  view  of 
all  around  as  an  old  disciple,  a  father  in  Israel." 

Hardly  could  all  of  this  have  been  more  true  of 
Noah  Wetmore  than  it  was  of  his  son  Apollos.  And 
we  can  easily  forget  that  it  was  the  grandfather  in- 
stead of  the  grandson  whose  eulogy  was  being  pro- 
nounced in  1796,  when  we  find  occurring  in  it  these 
words  : 

"The  doctrines  he  taught  and  duties  he  pressed 
upon  others  were  happily  exemplified    in    his   own   life 

and  conversation,   agreeable  to  the  Apostle's  charge  to 

59 


Timothy :  '  He  was  an  example  to  believers,  in  word, 
in  charity,  in  conversation,  in  faith,  in  purity.'"  In 
such  a  degree  did  the  past  survive  in  the  present,  and 
ancestry  perpetuate  itself  in  posterity. 

Apollos  Wetmore,  the  subject  of  our  narrative,  was 
born  in  Huntington,  Long  Island,  in  1796.  He  came 
with  his  father  to  New  York  when  ten  years  old,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  father's  being  called  to  the  super- 
intendentship  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  a  position 
held  by  him  for  about  thirty  years.  While  a  boy,  and 
living  with  his  father  at  the  hospital,  he  used  to  aid 
the  chaplain  by  holding  for  him  the  candle  while  he 
conducted  the  hospital  devotional  service.  In  this 
humble  way  did  he  begin  to  let  his  light  shine.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  entered  Columbia  College,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years,  applying  himself  very  closely 
to  his  studies,  but  obliged  at  the  end  of  that  time  to 
withdraw  on  account  of  impaired  health,  and  to  seek 
more  active  employment.  He  entered  business  at  once 
and  remained  actively  engaged  in  it  until  within  about 
six  years  of  his  death. 

Mr.  Wetmore  did  not  become  a  professing  Christian 

till    he   was    thirty-five   years   old.     His    conversion   was 

one  of   the   fruits  of  an  extensive  revival  which  added 

to    the    churches    something    like    two    thousand    souls. 

He    became  a  member  of  the   Presbyterian   church  in 

60 


Laight  street,  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Cox.  This  brings  us  to  an  interesting  and  critical 
point  in  the  career  of  the  new  convert.  It  is  a  very- 
serious  matter,  always, — the  position  that  a  man  takes 
when  he  first  becomes  a  Christian.  When  we  know 
what  Christianity  means  and  represents  to  him  during 
the  first  weeks  of  his  Christian  experience,  we  know 
probably  what  Christianity  will  represent  to  him,  and 
what  sort  of  an  expression  of  it  he  will  make  to  others, 
all  his  life  long.  We  read  it  of  some  of  the  first  disci- 
ples of  our  Lord,  that  they  "forsook  all  and  followed 
him."  We  have  heard  St.  Paul  inquiring,  in  the  mo- 
ment of  his  conversion,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do  ? "  And  the  Christianity  of  these,  through  life, 
carried  the  stamp  that  was  impressed  upon  it  in  the 
earliest  moments  of  their  Christian  history. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Wetmore  occur  these  few 
lines  relative  to  just  this  critical  juncture.  He  writes : 
"In  the  revival  of  183 1,  I  became  a  member  of  Dr. 
Cox's  church,  in  Laight  street,  and  desiring  to  do 
what  I  could  for  the  cause  of  Him  whom  I  professed 
to  love  and  serve,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the  City 
Tract  Society."  "Desiring  to  do  what  I  could  for  the 
cause  of  Him  whom  I  professed  to  love  and  serve."  When 
my   eye   fell   upon   those   words   from   his   own    pen,    it 

seemed  as  though  I  was  looking  directly  upon  the  key 

61 


of  the  whole  half-century  of  devout  Christian  philan- 
thropy that  ensued.  It  is  interesting,  as  denoting  the 
particular  line  of  service  upon  which  he  thus  early 
entered,  and  which  for  nearly  fifty  years  he  so  un- 
tiringly prosecuted.  But  it  is  far  more  interesting  as 
denoting  that  peculiar  quality  in  his  Christianity,  and 
that  unreserved  thoroughness  of  his  conversion,  that 
with  such  promptness  put  him  into  Christian  service, 
and  with  such  endurance  and  constancy  held  him  there. 
It  is  important  as  demonstrating  that  that  fifty  years, 
with  all  of  sweetness,  discipline,  and  help,  with  which 
the  period  was  so  richly  fraught,  is  due  to  the  power 
exercised  over  his  heart  and  life  by  his  divine  Master. 

Now  there  are  men  bright  and  scholarly  that  are 
perplexing  themselves  and  blinding  themselves  by  ver- 
bal and  doctrinal  difficulties  in  our  holy  scriptures. 
Here  is  a  fact,  my  friend,  deep  as  life,  fifty  years 
broad,  and  fifty  times  fifty  years  in  its  secondary 
scope,  better  worthy  of  your  thought  and  acumen.  Is 
there  room  in  your  system  of  unfaith,  and  in  your  gos- 
pel without  a  Christ,  for  Mr.  Wetmore  with  his  fifty 
years  of  devout  philanthropy  ? 

The    tract    movement  with   which   he   became    thus 

immediately  identified  was,  three  years  later,  developed 

into   the   City   Mission,   of  whose    finance    and    agency 

committee   he  was  made   chairman.      He    engaged    the 

62 


first  city  missionary.  In  the  first  year  of  the  Mission's 
existence,  there  were  ten  missionaries  in  its  employ. 
There  are  now  forty.  As  a  sample  of  the  work  done 
by  the  City  Mission  during  the  half-century,  we  may 
specify  the  distribution  of  ninety  thousand  bibles  and 
testaments,  fifty-one  million  tracts,  the  gathering  of 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  children  into  Sun- 
day-schools, and  the  addition  of  thirteen  thousand  con- 
verts to  evangelical  churches.  And  it  will  be  in  place 
to  add,  in  immediate  connection  with  this  summary  of 
results,  a  single  sentence  from  the  minute  adopted  by 
the  Mission  and  Tract  Society  on  the  day  of  Mr.  Wet- 
more's  funeral,  as  follows :  "  From  the  time  that  the 
City  Tract  Society  took  on  its  missionary  form  in  1832, 
Mr.  Wetmore  has  been  the  recognized  leader  and  most 
active  promoter  of  the  work." 

The  success  enjoyed  by  the  society  in  promoting  the 
spiritual  interests  of  the  poor  led  to  the  inquiry  how 
their  physical  condition  could  be  similarly  improved,  and 
resulted  in  the  formation,  in  1843,  of  the  "Association 
for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  ; "  of  which, 
also,  Mr.  Wetmore  became  one  of  the  founders  and  main 
supporters. 

To  this  last  society  there  was  made,  in  about  the  year 

1850,  a  donation  of  $10,000.     "  It  was  thought  best  not  to 

expend    this   money  in   the   usual  way,"   Mr.    Wetmore 

63 


writes.  The  question  arose  what  application  could  be 
made  of  it  that  would  be  most  effective  and  economical. 
It  was  decided  finally  to  employ  it  in  the  interests  of  va- 
grant children  ;  and  the  outcome  of  this  decision  was  the 
establishment  of  the  New  York  Juvenile  Asylum,  which, 
since  1853,  has  brought  under  its  healthful  physical  and 
mental  discipline  and  Christian  nurture  something  more 
than  twenty-one  thousand  children.  As  indicating  the 
large  share  which  Mr.  Wetmore  had  in  initiating  and  sus- 
taining this  enterprise,  I  quote  briefly  from  the  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  the  trustees  of  the  Asylum  on  the  occa- 
sion of  Mr.  Wetmore's  death  : 

"  He  was  one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Asylum, 
and  had  been  its  president  for  nearly  thirty  years.  To 
him  pre-eminently  this  Asylum  is  indebted,  for  it  was  by 
his  personal  efforts  that  the  large  amount  of  money  neces- 
sary for  its  establishment  and  support  has  been  obtained." 

Other  institutions  which,  in  greater  or  less  degree, 
owe  their  formation  to  him,  are  the  Presbyterian  Hospi- 
tal, the  Woman's  Hospital,  the  Hospital  for  the  Ruptured 
and  Crippled — in  which,  during  the  seventeen  years  of  its 
existence,  above  sixty-seven  thousand  patients  have  been 
treated — and  the  Home  for  Fallen  and  Friendless  Girls,  to 
which  during  the  past  six  years  he  has  daily  given  at 
least  one  hour's  personal  attention. 

Mr.  Wetmore's  devotion  to  these  outside  interests  in 

64 


no  wise  impaired  his  loyalty  to  his  own  church,  nor 
abridged  his  efforts  for  its  prosperity.  To  him  was  due, 
in  a  considerable  measure,  the  securing  of  funds  required 
for  the  erection  of  this  edifice.  He  was  an  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Trustees  from  the  organization  of 
the  church,  and  for  above  twenty  years  its  honored  chair- 
man. 

This  sketch,  meagre  and  barren  though  it  be,  renders 
quite  unnecessary  any  detailed  characterization  of  the 
man.  Mr.  Wetmore  had  an  unlimited  capacity  for  sym- 
pathy and  for  service.  His  affections  were  unhedged. 
His  sympathies  never  ran  in  grooves.  In  thought  he  was 
a  Presbyterian  ;  in  heart  he  was  nothing  less  than  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  was  never  engrossed. 
There  were  always  energies  of  thought  and  feeling  in 
reserve  to  respond  to  new  demands  made  upon  them. 
His  engagement  in  one  sphere  of  activity  operated  in  no 
degree  to  weaken  his  interest  in  other  spheres.  He  was 
always  busy,  but  always  at  leisure  to  the  man  that  wanted 
to  see  him  ;  nor  did  all  his  splendid  philanthropy  draw  in 
the  least  upon  that  fund  of  domestic  affection  needed  to 
make  a  fond  husband  and  a  sympathizing  and  tender 
father. 

He  was  himself  a  child  to  the  last.  The  years  mel- 
lowed him  without  withering  him.     He  dropped  into  easy 

sympathy  with  all  ages.     He  was  always  fresh.     Neither 

6s 


time  nor  public  services  tarnished  the  transparency, 
marred  the  simplicity,  nor  dulled  the  quick  sensitive- 
ness of  his  heart. 

He  was  loyal  to  his  own  purposes.  His  patience  did 
not  become  impatient,  nor  his  perseverance  grow  tired. 
His  devotion  took  no  vacations,  and  yet  faith  in  his  own 
purposes  and  plans  stopped  just  this  side  the  point  of  ob- 
stinacy. He  had  his  own  views  but  yielded  them  grace- 
fully when  overruled.  He  did  not  cling  to  an  opinion 
because  it  was  his  opinion  ;  and  whatever  measure  it  was 
decided  in  committee  to  be  proper  to  adopt,  he  would 
labor  as  earnestly  as  any  to  see  executed,  however  it 
might  conflict  with  his  own  judgment  and  taste.  This  is 
an  infrequent  grace,  and  the  outcome  of  rare  nobility. 

Mr.  Wetmore  believed  in  men,  and  gave  them  always 
the  largest  credit  possible.  He  surveyed  people  on  their 
best  side.  He  wrapped  them  in  the  mantle  of  his  own 
charity.  "You  are  too  suspicious,"  "You  must  make 
allowances,"  were  among  his  frequent  admonitions. 

A  distinguishing  trait  of  Mr.  Wetmore  was  his  influ- 
ence with  men  of  ample  means.  People  that  were  un- 
approachable to  others,  to  him  were  easily  accessible. 
This  is  explained  by  the  confidence  they  had  in  his  in- 
tegrity and  in  his  discretion.  What  they  put  in  his  hands 
they  expected  would  be  used  honestly  and  applied  judi- 
ciously.    Added  to  this  was  the  fact  that  he  never  took  a 

66 


rebuff.  A  refusal  he  did  not  interpret  as  an  affront.  On 
one  occasion,  while  soliciting  from  a  prominent  citizen  a 
subscription  for  some  benevolent  enterprise,  he  was  met 
with  the  brusque  rejoinder,  "  I  should  think  you  would 
find  it  disagreeable  business  to  beg  and  be  refused."  "  It 
is  my  Master  that  is  refused,  not  I,"  said  Mr.  Wetmore  ; 
"I  am  only  his  agent."  The  gentleman  gave  him  his 
check  for  the  desired  amount. 

He  believed  in  converting  men  by  direct  personal 
individual  effort.  It  was  in  that  way  that  his  Christian 
activity  began  and  continued.  He  believed  in  bringing 
the  church  to  the  people  when  the  people  wouldv  not 
come  to  the  church.  At  a  time  when  there  were  only 
between  seventy  and  eighty  Protestant  churches  in  the 
city  it  was  objected  to  Mr.  Wetmore  that  these  accom- 
modations were  ample  and  adequate,  and  that  if  people 
wanted  to  be  saved  they  could  come  to  the  churches  and 
be  saved.  "Was  this  the  language  of  Christ,"  he  an- 
swered, "  when  the  subject  of  man's  redemption  was  dis- 
cussed in  the  councils  of  eternity  ?  Did  he  say  to  the 
Father,  '  They  have  the  law,  let  them  keep  that  if  they 
wish  to  be  saved  ? '  or  did  he  condescend  to  come  into 
the  world  and  go  about  doing  good,  carrying  the  gospel 
to  the  door  of  those  who  stood  in  need  of  its  proffer  of 
life  and  salvation  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  urging  it  upon 

their  attention  and  acceptance  ?"     It  was  Mr.  Wetmore's 

67 


policy  to  shape  the  gospel  into  adaptedness  to  human 
conditions.  The  abstract  excellence  of  a  measure  did 
not  win  his  approval  if  it  failed  of  concrete  effects.  His 
heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  was  that  they 
might  be  saved  ;  and  church  usages  and  traditional  meth- 
ods were  nothing  to  him  if  they  showed  themselves  un- 
equal to  this  result. 

With  him  it  was  a  part  of  life  to  do  good.  He 
always  found  time  for  it.  As  he  viewed  it  there  was  no 
incompatibility  between  business  and  beneficence,  be- 
tween trade  and  evangelization.  His  business  prosperity 
was  unquestionably  hindered  by  his  large  charitable 
engagements.  And  so  that  other  Samaritan,  of  whom 
we  read  in  Scripture,  would  certainly  have  come  sooner 
to  his  journey's  end  had  he  not  spent  a  night  at  the  inn 
nursing  the  wounded  Jew.  It  is  enough  for  our  purpose 
that  he  has  demonstrated  by  his  example,  that  to  him, 
who  has  the  heart  for  it,  there  is  room  inside  the  same 
life  for  affectionate  devotion  to  the  family,  devout  loyalty 
to  God,  and  glorious  contribution  to  the  weal  of  sinning 
and  suffering  men. 

And  this  brings  us  to  our  last  point,  that  the  secret 
of  all  this  exceptional  life  and  the  enormous  fruitfulness 
of  it  lay  in  the  one  simple  fact  of  consecration.  Mr. 
Wetmore's  conversion  was  like  St.  Paul's  conversion, 
thorough  and  entire.     Like  the  fishermen  at  the  lake-side, 

68 


he  "forsook  all  and  followed  him."  There  was  no  com- 
promise between  convenience  and  duty.  "  I  am  only 
my  Master's  agent."  "What  can  I  do  for  the  cause  of 
Him  whom  I  profess  to  love  and  serve?"  That  we  have 
seen  to  be  his  first  question.  It  was  also  his  last  one. 
The  splendid  results  of  his  life  are  not  referable  to 
genius.  Mr.  Wetmore  was  not  a  brilliant  man.  He 
had  health,  heart,  and  sense,  and  these  three  he  put 
totally  at  his  Lord's  service,  and  the  issue  is  what  we 
have  seen. 

And  now,  my  friend,  with  health,  heart,  and  sense  ;  es- 
pecially, my  young  friend,  with  years  of  vast  possibility 
before  you,  take  this  life  of  Mr.  Wetmore,  in  all  its 
splendid  completeness  and  incalculable  fruitfulness,  and 
let  it  preach  to  you.  Who  in  this  congregation  is  the 
young  Elisha  that  will  take  up  the  mantle  fallen  from 
our  departed  Elijah  ? 

May  this,  and  all  the  saintly  lives  whose  ministry  has 
so  recently  closed  among  us,  work  upon  us  worthily  and 
constrainingly,  by  the  grace  of  God,  creating  in  us  like 
exalted  purpose  and  saintly  ambition,  and  lifting  us  also, 
by  and  by,  to  that  yonder  firmament,  where  they  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  for- 
ever and  ever. 

69 


JM^morial  JRpsoltifions. 


THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  MISSION  AND  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

In  meeting  of  the  New  York  City  Mission  and  Tract 
Society,  held  January  24,  1881,  the  following  minute  was 
unanimously  adopted  : 

In  the  death  of  Mr.  A.  R.  Wetmore  the  New  York  City  Mis- 
sion and  Tract  Society  has  lost  its  honored  and  beloved  presi- 
dent, who,  for  fifty  years,  has  been  untiring  in  his  disinterested 
zeal  and  devotion  to  its  best  interests. 

From  the  time  that  the  City  Tract  Society  took  on  its  mission- 
ary form  in  1832,  Mr.  Wetmore  has  been  the  recognized  leader 
and  the  most  active  promoter  of  the  work. 

His  thorough  and  unreserved  consecration  to  Christian  ser- 
vice and  his  generous  gifts  of  time  and  money  have  stimulated 
and  encouraged  many.  Intelligently  attached  to  the  church  of 
his  choice,  his  warm  Christian  sympathies  broadened  out  beyond 
denominational  lines  to  all,  of  every  name,  who  held  the  common 
faith  of  the  gospel. 

His  affectionate  and  personal  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
city  missionaries  under  his  direction  endeared  him  as  a  father  to 
one  and  all.  His  active  connection  with  this  and  with  other  re- 
ligious and  benevolent  associations,  and  his  conspicuous  fidelity  to 
every  trust,  drew  to  him  the  respect  and  the  confidence  of  the 
community  in  an  eminent  degree. 

It  was  permitted  him,  in  large  measure,  to  see  the  fruit  of  his 
prayers  and  toils  in  the  firm  establishment  and  prosperous  growth 
of  the  institutions  he  originated  and  carried  forward,  and  in  the 
hopeful  salvation  of  multitudes  of  souls.  Even  when  increasing 
years  might  well  have  excused  him  from  further  active  service,  he 
allowed  no  abatement  of  zeal,  and  continued  to  meet  every  ap- 

73 


pointment  with  unvarying  punctuality  to  the  last,  ceasing  at  once 
to  labor  and  to  live. 

His  extraordinary  devotion  to  the  cause  of  city  missions  is 
an  illustrious  example  to  all ;  and  his  revered  memory  will  long 
be  gratefully  cherished  by  his  associates. 

(A  true  extract  from  the  records.) 

L.  E.  Jackson, 

Secretary. 

MISSIONARIES'   MEETING. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Missionaries  of  the  New 
York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  held  in  their  room 
on  Saturday,  January  22,  1881,  having  heard  of  the  death 
of  the  beloved  and  venerable  head  of  the  society,  the 
following  minute  was  adopted  and  ordered  to  be  placed 
on  their  records,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  the  bereaved 
family. 

"The  cedar  is  fallen  !  "  The  City  Mission  mourns  to-day  the 
loss  of  its  head  ;  the  chair,  so  long  occupied  by  him,  he  has  va- 
cated forever. 

Apollos  Russell  Wetmore  is  no  more.  He  was  born  in  Hunt- 
ington, L.  I.,  on  November  11,  1796,  became  one  of  the  directors 
and  superintendents  of  the  City  Tract  Society  in  1833  ;  in  1837  he 
became  corresponding  secretary,  which  office  he  filled  until  1864. 
The  society  then  became  incorporated  as  the  New  York  City  Mis- 
sion and  Tract  Society.  As  vice-president  of  the  new  organiza- 
tion he  attended  all  its  meetings  and  took  an  active  part  in  all  its 
affairs.  On  the  death  of  Rev.  Dr.  DeWitt,  in  1874,  he  was  elected 
president,  and  continued  in  that  office  until  the  day  of  his  death, 
January  21,  1881. 

74 


To  the  missionaries  his  memory  will  always  be  very  precious 
for  the  numberless  acts  of  kindness  they  have  received  at  his 
hands,  for  his  tender  sympathy  in  all  their  trials,  for  the  Christian 
spirit  he  ever  exhibited  toward  them  and  in  which  all  the  affairs  of 
the  society  were  conducted  by  him.  To  those  who  have  known  him 
longest,  it  is  the  loss  of  a  father.  From  them  the  head  of  the 
family  has  been  removed  to  his  eternal  rest,  and  they  look  long- 
ingly forward  to  the  day  when  they  will  meet  him  among  the  hosts 
of  the  redeemed. 

They  remember  him  as  the  friend  of  the  widow  and  orphan, 
the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  wayward.  The  youth  from  the  asy- 
lums will  bring  their  tributes  of  gratitude,  the  sick  from  the  hos- 
pitals, the  sinful  from  the  reformatories,  the  aged  from  the  homes, 
with  multitudes  of  others  to  whom  he  has  been  a  benefactor.  As 
was  said  of  one  of  the  early  Christians,  "he  was  to  those  in  afflic- 
"  tion  a  consoler,  to  age  its  staff,  to  youth  its  guardian,  to 
"poverty  its  provider,  and  to  abundance  its  dispenser." 

His  name  is  written  on  the  tablets  of  many  an  institution ;  it  is 
engraved  on  the  hearts  of  the  missionaries,  and  shines  with  the 
brightness  of  the  sun  on  the  imperishable  records  of  heaven. 

The  sympathy  of  the  missionaries  is  extended  to  the  bereaved 
family.  The  hour  has  arrived  for  which  they  have  been  looking. 
Earth  is  poorer  to  them  to  day,  but  heaven  is  richer.  They  have 
glorious  memories  of  the  past  to  cheer  them  and  the  assurance  of 
the  everlasting  happiness  of  the  departed.  The  Lord  will  give 
them  many  consolations  in  this  bereavement. 

John  Ruston, 

Secretary  of  Missionary  Meeting. 

75 


THE   NEW   YORK  JUVENILE   ASYLUM. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Directors  of  the  New 
York  Juvenile  Asylum,  held  on  Saturday  afternoon,  Jan- 
uary 22,  1881,  to  take  suitable  action  with  reference  to 
the  death  of  our  late  president,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore, 
Hon.  Peter  Cooper,  vice-president,  in  the  chair,  the  fol- 
lowing minute  was  adopted  : 

The  Directors  of  the  New  York  Juvenile  Asylum  have  heard 
with  profound  emotion  and  regret  of  the  sudden  death  of  their 
venerable  and  beloved  president,  Mr.  A.  R.  Wetmore. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  founders  of  this  asylum,  and  had 
been  its  president  for  nearly  thirty  years.  To  him,  pre-eminently, 
this  asylum  is  indebted,  for  it  was  mainly  by  his  personal  efforts 
that  the  large  amount  of  money  necessary  for  its  establishment 
and  support  has  been  obtained.  Also,  it  was  by  his  own  wise  and 
able  supervision,  as  president,  that  the  institution  has  attained  to 
the  noble  proportions  that  it  now  exhibits.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to 
find  words  adequate  to  express  our  sense  of  his  great  services  to 
this  asylum,  which  remains  a  perpetual  monument  in  honor  of 
his  memory. 

It  was  the  earnest  desire  of  his  heart  that  this  asylum  should 
succeed  in  attaining  the  end  for  which  it  was  established — that  of 
lifting  up  the  downcast  and  erring  children  of  this  city,  of  placing 
them  in  an  asylum  where  they  could  be  carefully  trained  and  in- 
structed, and  then  be  started  upon  a  course  of  life  that  would 
enable  them  to  become  good  and  useful  citizens  of  our  common 
country.     To  promote  these  noble  ends,  Christian  and  patriotic, 

he  devoted  all  his  energies,  and  he  gave  gratuitously  not  only  his 

76 


time  and  money  but  his  heartfelt  wishes  and  prayers.  All  this, 
as  well  as  his  ever  genial  and  kindly  manner  to  his  colleagues, 
commanded  our  highest  admiration  and  affection. 

We  cannot  but  rejoice  that  kind  Providence  prolonged  his 
days  to  such  a  good  old  age,  preserved  his  health,  happiness,  and 
usefulness  literally  to  the  last  day  of  his  life,  and  then,  when  his 
long  warfare  had  been  accomplished  and  his  mission  ended, 
caused  him  to  pass  away  from  this  life  in  a  gentle  sleep,  to  awake, 
as  we  firmly  trust,  in  another  and  a  better  world. 

Peter  Cooper, 

Vice-President. 

Peter  Carter, 

Secretary. 

Memorial  services  were  held  in  the  chapel  of  the 
asylum  on  January  28,  1881. 


THE  NEW  YORK  ASSOCIATION  FOR  IMPROVING  THE 
CONDITION    OF    THE    POOR. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  New 
York  Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the 
Poor,  held  February  14,  1881,  at  No.  79  Fourth  avenue, 
a  full  attendance  being  present,  the  President,  Howard 
Potter,  announced  that,  since  the  last  meeting  of  the 
board,  an  old  and  greatly  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  Mr. 
Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  for  many  years  actively  connected 
with  this  association,  had  gone  to  his  rest. 

77 


Mr.  Wetmore  died  on  the  21st  of  January  last,  at  his  home  in 
this  city,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  association,  and  his  name  appears  among  the  list 
of  its  visitors  in  the  first  published  report  of  the  association  in 
1845.  In  1851  he  became  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  asso- 
ciation, succeeding  J.  Smyth  Rogers,  M.D.,  who  died  early  in  the 
spring  of  the  same  year,  and  continued  to  hold  this  office  till  the 
year  1871,  a  period  of  twenty  years.  During  this  long  connection 
Mr.  Wetmore  was  one  of  its  most  assiduous  and  devoted  friends. 
He  was  widely  known  from  his  connection  with  very  many  of  our 
benevolent  organizations,  and  was  conspicuous  among  his  co- 
workers as  one  never  weary  in  well-doing. 

Whereupon  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  this  board,  with  a  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
many  and  great  benefits  conferred  upon  this  community  by  the 
deceased  in  the  course  of  his  long,  honorable,  and  most  useful 
life,  and  especially  remembering  his  services  in  the  organization 
of  this  association  and  in  connection  with  its  work  for  so  many 
years,  makes  this  minute  of  its  sense  of  the  loss  which,  by  the 
death  of  Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  has  befallen  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  his  family  and  friends,  and  expresses  its  sincere  sympathy 
with  the  latter  in  their  bereavement. 

Resolved,  That  the  secretary  be  directed  to  send  an  extract 
from  the  minutes  of  these  proceedings  to  Mr.  Wetmore's  family. 

(A  true  copy.)  John  Bowne, 

Secretary. 
78 


TRUSTEES   OF   MADISON   SQUARE   PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian 
Church,  January  24,  1881. 

Since  the  last  meeting  of  the  board  they  have  lost  their  hon- 
ored and  venerable  chairman. 

The  long  and  useful  life  of  Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  with  all  its 
unwearied  activity,  has  ended  in  a  peaceful  death.  He  rests 
from  his  labors,  and  his  works  do  follow  him. 

One  whose  highest  happiness  it  ever  was  to  help,  guide,  and 
befriend  the  poor,  the  erring,  and  the  friendless  ;  unmindful 
alike  of  the  cold  of  winter  and  the  heat  of  summer,  forgetful 
only  of  himself,  in  spite  of  advanced  years  and  obstructions, 
which  he  might  easily  have  accepted  as  a  dispensation  from 
active  service,  he  went  on  to  the  end,  with  courage,  faith,  and 
hope,  and  so  terminated  a  career  full  of  years  and  honor. 

No  doubt  he  has  already  heard  in  the  City  of  God  the  wel- 
come "  Come   ye   blessed   of  my   Father,    inherit    the   kingdom 

"  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 

"  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  my 
"  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.  " 

Although  we  shall  no  more  behold  the  face  of  our  beloved 
friend,  nor  witness  his  zeal,  attention,  and  fidelity  at  our  meetings, 
it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  recall,  with  fond  and  affectionate  remem- 
brance, his  commanding  presence,  his  sweet  disposition,  and  his 
judicious  assistance  in  the  administration  of  the  temporal  affairs 
of  the  church. 

Nor  will  we  forget  what  an  important  part  he  took  in  its  build- 
ing and  establishment,  being  always  ready  with  his  means,  his 

79 


credit,  and  excellent  judgment  to  assist  the  building  committee 
upon  whom  the  great  labor  and  official  responsibility  rested. 

His  surviving  associates  in  the  board  of  trustees  desire  to  bear 
their  testimony  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mr.  Wetmore,  who 
has  passed  through  such  an  extended  and  busy  life  without  stain 
or  reproach. 

(Copy  from  the  minutes.) 

F.  F.  Marbury, 

Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN    HOSPITAL. 

Another  co-laborer  has  fallen  by  our  side,  another  co-worker 
has  gone  from  his  work  to  his  reward. 

At  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore 
has  been  called  to  his  rest. 

His  life  has  been  one  of  ceaseless  activity  in  his  Master's  work. 
From  the  moment  he  gave  his  heart  to  Christ,  he  dedicated  his 
life  to  His  service,  and  the  controlling  aim  of  his  subsequent  years 
seems  to  have  been  how  most  earnestly  to  respond  to  the  heavenly 
injunction  "  Go  work  in  my  vineyard." 

No  individual  in  our  community  has  had  so  large  a  share  in 
organizing  the  many  philanthropic  enterprises  in  our  midst,  all 
designed  and  successfully  working  for  the  benefit  of  the  various 
classes  of  our  community,  "  relieving  the  poor  and  the  suffering ," 
" protecting  the  weak,"  " raising  the  fallen,"  and  extending  the 
Master's  Kingdom. 

One  element  contributing  perhaps  to  his  long  life  and  general 
health  may  be  found  in  the  constant  activity  which  his  continued 
interest  in  these  various  objects  induced,  and  which  were  to  his 

closing  hours  subjects  of  his  constant  care  and  solicitude. 

80 


But  this  noble  life  has  closed.  As  might  have  been  expected, 
his  end  was  peace.  Having  retired  in  his  usual  health  and  cheer- 
fulness on  the  evening  of  January  20th,  he  passed  during  the 
night,  apparently,  without  a  pain  or  a  struggle  into  the  "joy  of 
his  Lord." 

"  Having  served  his  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  he  fell  on 
sleep."     He  walked  with  God  and  was  not,  for  God  took  him. 

Few  men  have  been  endowed  with  the  large-hearted  Christian 
philanthropy  of  Russell  Wetmore,  and  to  few  have  been  ac- 
corded Grace  to  follow,  through  so  long  a  life,  so  closely  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  Divine  Master. 

Let  us  follow  him  as  he  followed  Christ  ;  may  we  "  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  may  our  last  end  be  like  his." 

Henry  M.  Taber, 

Recording  Secretary. 


THE   WOMAN'S   HOSPITAL   IN   THE   STATE   OF   NEW 

YORK. 

At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  board  of  governors 
of  the  "Woman's  Hospital  in  the  State  of  New  York" 
the  following  minute  was  adopted,  and  the  secretary  was 
directed  to  enter  the  same  as  part  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  meeting,  and  to  forward  a  copy  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased  : 

Mr.  A.  R.  Wetmore  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the 
Woman's  Hospital  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  from  its  incor- 
poration, in  1857,  until  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was  a  member  of 
its  board  of  governors.     In   1864   he  was  elected  to  the  position 

81 


of  vice-president  of  the  board,  an  office  which  he  held  until  the 
time  of  his  decease. 

Seldom  absent  from  the  meetings  of  the  board,  always  inter- 
ested in  the  prosperity  of  the  hospital,  he  has  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century  faithfully  and  intelligently  served  this  institution, 
giving  warm  sympathy  and  practical  co-operation. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  especially  devoted  to  the  raising  of  money 
for  the  completion  and  maintenance  of  this  hospital,  and,  as  has 
been  said,  probably  no  man  ever  lived  in  this  city,  and  we  may 
say  in  this  country,  who  has  been  so  successful  in  obtaining  large 
sums  for  the  various  objects  of  Christian  philanthropy,  and  no 
man  ever  excited  less  prejudice  in  asking.  Warm  in  his  feelings, 
courteous  and  persuasive  in  his  manners,  always  advocating  a 
worthy  benefaction,  he  would  obtain  subscriptions  from  those 
whom  most  men  hesitated  to  approach. 

This  institution,  feeling  how  deep  a  debt  of  gratitude  they  owed 
to  their  associate  who  had  been  the  means  of  bringing  such  gen- 
erous material  aid  to  the  work,  unanimously,  by  authority  of  this 
board,  named  the  first  pavilion  erected  "The  Wetmore  Pavil- 
ion ;  "  and  though  far  removed  from  any  selfish  desire  that  his 
services  should  be  appreciated,  yet  it  was  a  joy  to  him  that  his 
name  was  thus  to  be  closely  associated  with  efforts  for  the  relief 
of  human  suffering. 

The  source  of  all  Mr.  Wetmore's  deeds  came  from  a  deep, 
though  childlike,  belief  in  the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion,  in 
the  light  of  which  he  walked,  and  in  the  strength  of  which  he  died. 

Charles  N.  Talbot, 

Secretary. 

82 


LADY  SUPERVISORS   OF   THE   WOMAN'S   HOSPITAL. 

Whereas  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God,  by  His  mysterious  but 
all-wise  providence,  to  call  hence  from  this  life,  to  the  life  beyond, 
the  late  and  honored  vice-president  of  the  board  of  governors  of 
the  Woman's  Hospital,  we,  therefore,  the  lady  supervisors,  offer 
our  most  sincere  sympathy  to  the  members  of  his  family  for  the 
loss  of  one  who,  during  his  long  life,  has  been  always  going  about 
to  do  good. 

It  was  a  fitting  close  to  such  a  life  of  devotion  to  the  Master, 
that  he  should  quietly  fall  asleep  in  his  own  home,  to  waken  in 
that  Happy  Home  where  no  sorrow  shall  appal  him,  and  there  are 
no  more  tears  for  him  to  dry,  and  where  he  will  "  see  the  King 
in  His  beauty  and  the  land  that  is  very  far  off." 

M.  Read, 

Secretary. 


SOCIETY   FOR   THE   RELIEF  OF  THE  RUPTURED  AND 
CRIPPLED. 

In  recording  upon  their  minutes  the  death  of  their  associate 
and  vice-president,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  who  died  January  21, 
1 88 1,  the  managers  of  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Ruptured 
and  Crippled  wish  to  express  their  high  appreciation  of  his  benev- 
olent labors  and  great  usefulness  in  perfecting  its  organization  and 
extending  its  great  work  of  charity  among  the  suffering  and  help- 
less. 

He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  in  founding  this  great  charity, 

and  has  always  been  one  of  its  most  devoted  members. 

83 


His  inflexible  principles  in  administering  its  affairs,  his  benev- 
olent and  Christian  impulses  and  unwearied  voluntary  labors  for 
the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men  in  this  and  other  institutions,  entitle 
him  to  the  distinction  he  attained  of  a  true  philanthropist.  The 
memory  of  his  good  deeds  will  long  remain  and  be  an  incentive  to 
younger  men  to  imitate  his  good  example. 

It  is  ordered  that  this  brief  tribute  of  honor  and  respect  for 
the  memory  of  our  late  associate  be  entered  in  full  on  the  records 
of  the  society,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  his  bereaved  family, 
signed  by  the  president  and  corresponding  secretary. 

Samuel  Willets, 

President. 
William  A.  W.  Stewart, 

Corresponding  Secretary. 


SOCIETY    OF    THE  LYING-IN  HOSPITAL  OF    THE  CITY 
OF   NEW   YORK. 

New  York,  April  13,  1881. 
At  a  quarterly   meeting   of   the  board  of   governors, 

held  this  day,  the   following  notice   of  the  death  of  the 

late  president  of  this  society  was  ordered  to  be  entered 

on  the  minutes  : 

On  January  21,  1881,  the  venerable  president  of  this  board, 
Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years.  He 
became  governor  of  the  society  in  1854,  its  vice-president  in  1879, 
and  its  president  in  1880.  He  was  one  of  its  wisest,  most  capa- 
ble and  faithful  counsellors  and  officers,  attending  with  diligence 
and   efficiency  to  its  duties  and  to  the  promotion  of  its  humane 

purposes. 

84 


No  name  has  been  more  closely  identified  than  his  with  the 
charitable  and  benevolent  institutions  of  this  city.  He  gave  to 
them  his  heart,  his  time,  and  his  means.  To  benefit  his  fellow- 
men  was  the  well-performed  mission  of  his  life.  His  career  has 
been  one  of  eminent  usefulness  and  goodness. 

His  death  is  deplored  by  the  community  as  that  of  one  of  its 
most  excellent  and  honored  members. 

This  board,  regarding  with  deep  sensibility  his  removal  from 
their  midst,  direct  this  note  to  be  entered  on  their  minutes. 

(Extract  from  the  minutes.) 

Andrew  Warner, 

Secretary, 
85 


^riftufps,  pfr. 


The  New  York  Observer,  February  10,  1881. 

It  was  a  bitter  cold  day,  when  a  party  of  friends  went 
up  to  the  Juvenile  Asylum  to  hold  a  memorial  service 
with  the  children  in  honor  of  the  late  president  of  that 
great  institution.  It  was  one  of  the  coldest  days  of  the 
severest  winter  in  the  city  in  the  memory  of  the  most 
of  us.  By  the  elevated  railroad  we  went  to  Washington 
Heights,  and  thence,  over  the  ice  and  snow,  to  the  asy- 
lum, which  is  a  mile  or  more  farther  on.  The  cold  wind 
pierced  to  the  bones. 

When  I  came  to  this  city,  forty  years  ago,  Mr.  A.  R. 
Wetmore  very  soon  appeared  with  some  one  of  his  many 
useful,  practical,  and  sensible  schemes  for  the  benefit  of 
his  fellow-men.  During  all  the  intervening  years  I  have 
felt  safe  in  commending  and  supporting  every  benevolent 
enterprise  to  which  he  put  his  hand,  and  everything  that 
he  undertook  was  prosperous.  He  had  no  hobby.  He 
was  a  philanthropist  in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  of  that 
much  misused  word.  The  old,  the  young,  women  and 
men,  the  sick  and  wounded — all  were  objects  of  his  care. 
It  was  enough  for  him  that  suffering  could  be  prevented 
or  relieved,   and  then  his  good  sense  was  employed  to 

devise  the  ways  and  means.     He  kept  a  book   for  each 

89 


one  of  his  many  objects — a  subscription  book — and  this 
he  would  send  around  to  those  who  were  able  and  willing 
to  do  good  with  their  money  ;  the  giver  signed  his  name 
and  the  amount,  and  returned  the  book  with  a  check  for 
the  money.  If  there  was  special  need  for  extra  aid,  Mr. 
Wetmore  would  call  and  state  the  case.  But  as  a  general 
thing,  it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  send  the  silent  book, 
which  told  its  own  story.  The  check  that  came  back  was 
no  check,  but  a  great  stimulant  to  the  cause. 

He  was  the  father  of  this  juvenile  asylum.  Down  in 
the  city  a  house  of  reception  was  opened  for  the  waifs,  the 
destitute,  deserted,  or  vicious  children,  with  no  friends  to 
care  for  them  ;  in  this  house  they  are  detained  for  a  time, 
washed,  clothed,  fed,  cured  if  diseased  ;  taught  the  fear 
of  God  ;  and  then  sent  up  to  this  asylum  to  be  trained  for 
usefulness.  Homes  are  provided  for  them  in  the  country. 
He  was  as  a  father  to  these  children.  This  was  his  great 
family.  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  did  Mr. 
Wetmore,  in  the  spirit  of  his  Father  in  heaven,  have  com- 
passion on  those  who  were  lost  in  the  wilderness  of  this 
city.  It  was  therefore  very  becoming  when  Mr.  Wetmore 
died,  and  his  virtues  had  been  celebrated  in  the  Madison 
Square  Church,  in  the  midst  of  his  friends  and  fellow-citi- 
zens, that  these  children  of  his  care  should  have  a  memo- 
rial service  in  the  house  of  many  mansions  that  he  had 

provided  for  them. 

90 


This  was  the  cause  of  our  journey  to  the  asylum  on 
this  bitter,  biting-cold  day. 

Peter  Cooper,  the  venerable  Peter  Cooper,  New  York's 
first  citizen  now,  was  one  of  the  party.  A  wonderful  man 
he  is.  When  you  are  reading  this  letter  (February  12, 
1 881),  he  will  be  celebrating  his  arrival  at  the  age  of 
ninety  !  Yet  he  is  just  as  actively  employed  in  works  of 
usefulness  as  he  ever  was,  and  his  life  has  been  full  of 
them.  He  is  vice-president  of  the  asylum,  and  Mr.  Wet- 
more,  its  president,  lived  to  be  eighty-five.  Wonderful 
old  men  both  of  them.  They  were  good  boys  ;  honored 
their  father  and  mother,  and  their  days  have  been  long 
in  the  land.  Mr.  Cooper  was  of  age,  in  active  business, 
"  ever  so  long  "  before  I  was  born.  And  here  he  is  to-day 
riding  out  eight  miles  from  home,  on  this  dreadfully  cold 
day,  to  assist  in  a  service  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  his 
friend.  The  names  of  the  other  partakers  in  the  cere- 
mony are  familiar  to  the  city  and  country :  Kingsley, 
Stoddard,  Quincy,  Trow,  Dana,  Reed,  Dwight,  Peck, 
and  the  Carters,  brothers,  publishers  whose  works  praise 
them. 

And  what  a  sight  was  before  us  as  we  entered  the 
chapel !  Six  hundred  and  fifty  boys  and  girls,  in  one 
solid  assembly !  The  indefatigable  superintendent,  Mr. 
E.  M.  Carpenter,  with  assistants  and  teachers  and  visi- 
tors, made   an  audience   of  seven   hundred.      Neatness, 

91 


order,  profound  attention,  and  solemnity  marked  the  oc- 
casion. With  tenderness  and  unconcealed  emotion  they 
sang  words  of  resignation;  when  Dr.  Stoddard  led  them 
in  prayer  they  prayed,  and  followed  with  "Our  Father," 
which  they  rendered  with  soothing  effect — for  they  were 
in  one  sense  all  orphans,  now  again  bereaved,  and  they 
were  well  taught  to  look  to  Him  who  is  in  heaven. 

It  was  a  strange  and  very  impressive  sight  when  Mr. 
Cooper  stood  up  and  addressed  these  poor  children.  His 
long  gray  locks  hanging  to  his  neck,  his  form  trembling 
with  the  weight  of  years,  his  good  name  linked  with  great 
charities,  and  blest  by  thousands  who  are  now  in  posts  of 
honorable  usefulness  through  his  wise  munificence  ;  and 
the  certainty  that  he  cannot  long  survive  to  make  public 
addresses,  these  facts  gave  zest  to  his  discourse,  as  he 
leaned  with  one  hand  against  a  pillar  and  talked  to  the 
children  of  his  own  early  life  ;  how  his  parents  taught 
him  never  to  do  a  wrong  thing,  always  to  do  the  right, 
to  study  the  Bible,  and  follow  the  perfect  example  and 
obey  the  teachings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  good 
to  hear  a  man  who  has  amassed  great  wealth  by  honest 
industry,  and  has  used  itwisely  and  well  for  others,  now 
in  his  old  age  inculcating  his  principles  upon  the  young. 
And  his  heart  was  so  full,  that  when  Mr.  Robert  Carter 
had  spoken  to  the  children  with  tenderness  and  effect, 

Mr.  Cooper  again  arose  and  repeated  a  poem  full  of  good 

92 


advice;  and  when  the  next  speaker  sat  down,  Mr.  Cooper 
came  forward  for  the  third  time  and  related  some  striking 
facts  to  enforce  the  virtues  that  had  been  commended. 
All  the  addresses  were  in  testimony  of  the  loving  kind- 
ness of  Mr.  Wetmore's  heart,  his  fidelity  and  industry, 
and  of  the  gratitude  due  to  his  honored  memory. 

In  reply  to  my  inquiry  of  Mr.  Cooper,  as  to  the  means 
of  preserving  health  at  his  time  of  life,  and  whether  he 
found  the  stimulus  of  alcohol  necessary,  he  said  no,  that 
he  was  strictly  temperate,  and  always  had  been  ;  that  he 
was  regular  in  his  habits,  but  used  no  particular  means 
for  preserving  health. 

I  took  a  stroll  through  some  of  the  rooms  of  the  great 
building.  One  hundred  cots  in  each  of  seven  dormitories 
was  something  to  see,  each  with  a  snow-white  coverlet 
upon  it.  I  turned  up  the  bedclothes  to  see  if  there  were 
enough  to  keep  them  warm  ;  having  counted  five  blankets 
on  each  bed,  I  said  :  "  That's  more  than  I  have,  I  think  it 
will  answer." 

And  then  we  returned  to  our  homes  down-town,  hav- 
ing spent  six  hours  on  this  mission  of  respect  to  our  de- 
parted fellow-worker  and  friend.  We  felt  it  a  tribute 
justly  due  to  him,  and  not  unlikely  to  have  a  wholesome 
influence  on  the  six  hundred  and  fifty  orphans  who  might 
well  call  Mr.  Wetmore  father. 

Yet  this  was  only  one  of  the  many  ministries  of  mercy 

93 


of  which  his  life  was  full.  He  was  not  a  public  speaker. 
Diffident  to  a  fault,  he  said  little,  but  always  abounded  in 
work  ;  endearing  himself  to  the  poor,  so  that  in  the  midst 
of  a  great  city  riot,  when  stores  were  plundered  by  a  mob, 
the  poor  formed  a  guard  around  his  and  protected  it  from 
violence  ;  having  the  confidence  of  the  rich,  so  that  they 
would  lend  him  money  without  security,  and  give  him  what 
he  asked  for  his  works  of  charity. 

Neither  granite  nor  marble,  carved  into  whatever 
forms  of  strength  and  beauty,  is  a  fit  symbol  of  the 
character  of  such  a  citizen.  Warmth,  tenderness,  benefi- 
cence, wisdom,  patience,  perseverance,  faith,  hope,  and, 
above  all  things,  charity — these  and  other  graces  must 
blend  in  the  living  man,  not  a  cold  statue  of  Parian  mar- 
ble nor  a  gigantic  obelisk  of  granite,  but  a  living,  loving 
man,  carving  out  of  his  life  a  character  that  will  shine 
with  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  when  statues  and 
obelisks,  pyramids  and  pillars,  have  crumbled  into  dust. 

IrENjEUS. 

The  New  York  Evangelist,  February  10,  1881. 

The  memory  of  this  venerable  philanthropist  will  be 
long  and  pleasantly  fragrant  with  its  many  Christian 
odors,  perfuming  our  Christian  charities  and  benevo- 
lences with  its  rare  and  rich  qualities  for  years  to  come. 

94 


God  gave  him  many  exceptional  advantages  for  His  gra- 
cious work,  and  for  its  most  acceptable  accomplishment ; 
a  handsome,  manly  face  and  figure,  full  of  winsome  and 
attractive  expression  ;  a  voice  of  sweet,  melodious  tone, 
informed  by  ever-active  Christian  emotions  ;  and  a  man- 
ner at  once  commanding  and  dignified,  courteously  sweet, 
and  inviting  the  confidence  and  trust  it  justified.  And 
these  external  signs  were  true  manifestations  of  the  in- 
ward graces  and  fruits  of  the  spirit  always  abiding  in  him. 
More  than  any  man  whom  I  ever  knew,  he  was  always  a 
Christian  in  great  things  and  small,  on  Sunday  and  week- 
day, in  business  and  recreation.  But  it  was  in  his  home, 
surrounded  by  his  saintly  wife  and  by  his  loving  children, 
that  his  reigning  purity  of  heart  and  mind,  his  habitual 
charity  that  "thinketh  no  evil,"  and  his  kindly  nature,  so 
interfused  with  the  best  emotions,  shone  most  beautifully 
and  attractively.  It  was  such  a  home  as  we  fancy  that  at 
Bethany  to  have  been,  where  the  Master  loved  to  go  and 
rest  amid  His  blessed  work  of  doing  good. 

What  "  a  feast  of  good  things  "  was  such  a  life  !  A  feast 
to  which  were  bidden  and  were  welcome  not  only  the  hon- 
orable, the  rich,  the  noble,  and  the  great,  but  those  from 
the  highways  and  hedges,  the  poor,  the  fatherless,  and  the 
unfriended.  As  the  farmer  at  Marshfield  murmured  as 
he  looked  for  the  last  time  at  the  silent,  majestic  face  of 

Daniel  Webster,    "  Marshfield  will  be  lonesome  without 

95 


you,  Mr.  Webster,"  so  these  poor  orphans  and  friendless 
ones  looking  tearfully  at  the  grand  head  of  Mr.  Wetmore 
as  it  lay  in  its  noble  repose  might  even  more  truthfully 
and  touchingly  have  sighed  "We  shall  all  be  lonesome 
without  you,  Mr.  Wetmore  ! '' 

Surely  such  a  life  cannot  have  been  lived  in  vain. 
Surely  such  a  living  and  bountiful  epistle,  at  once  gos- 
pel and  epistle,  example  and  precept,  will  so  strengthen, 
teach,  and  equip  others  in  smaller  spheres,  although  it 
may  be,  and  with  lesser  esteemed  and  internal  graces  and 
powers,  that  they  will  rise  up  and  make  the  world  less 
lonesome  for  the  orphan,  the  friendless,  the  wandering, 
and  the  sinful.  J.  D.  S. 

Englewood,  N.  J.,  February  3,  1881. 


The  Illustrated  Christian  Weekly,  March  5,  1881. 

A  biographical  sketch  of  this  eminent  Christian  phi- 
lanthropist may  well  be  prefaced  by  a  glance,  though  it 
be  but  cursory,  at  his  ancestry.  On  referring  to  the  gen- 
ealogical annals,  it  appears  that  the  Wetmore  family  in 
America  is  descended  from  Thomas  Whitmore,  who  came 
from  the  west  of  England  to  Boston  in  1635,  an^  was 
among  the  early  settlers  in  the  Connecticut  colony.  In 
the   fourth   generation   from    this   ancestor  is  found  the 

name  of  the  Rev.  Noah  Wetmore,  who  was  educated  at 

96 


Yale  College,  and  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  in  1760, 
and  was  settled  at  Brook  Haven,  L.  I.,  where  he  died  in 
1796. 

It  was  said  of  him  that  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  his 
sermons  were  well  composed,  and  animated  with  a  sacred 
regard  to  the  honor  of  religion,  and  the  salvation  of  im- 
mortal souls.  He  was  an  example  to  believers  in  word, 
in  charity,  in  conversation,  in  faith,  in  purity. 

Noah,  a  son  of  the  preceding,  born  in  1767,  came  with 
his  family  to  this  city  in  1808,  to  take  the  superintendence 
of  the  New  York  Hospital,  in  which  charge  he  remained 
thirty  years  or  more.  On  removing  to  New  York,  Mr. 
Wetmore  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Cedar 
street,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Romeyn. 

Apollos  Russell,  the  son  of  the  above,  and  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  November  11,  1796,  and  came 
with  his  father  to  this  city  in  1808. 

He  entered  Columbia  College  with  the  intention  of 
fitting  himself  for  the  medical  profession,  but  his  health 
becoming  impaired,  he  entered  into  active  business,  in 
which  he  continued  through  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Mr.  Wetmore,  in  speaking  of  his  early  days  in  New  York, 
would  often  refer  to  the  associations  of  the  Cedar  street 
church,  and  it  is  very  likely  that  his  Christian  training 
developed  a  strong  religious  bias,  though  he  made  no 
open  confession  of  faith. 

97 


Among  the  influences  for  good  in  his  early  surround- 
ings, he  not  infrequently  spoke  of  the  impression  made 
on  his  youthful  mind  by  that  benevolent  man,  Rev.  John 
Stanford,  D.D.,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  who  visited  the  hos- 
pital as  chaplain,  and  for  whom  he  would  hold  the  light, 
as  he  conducted  evening  service. 

Not  to  dwell  longer  upon  this  part  of  his  life,  we  come 
to  that  important  period,  when  in  the  full  flush  of  man- 
hood, a  decided  stand  was  to  be  taken.  It  was  in  the 
Laight  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  that  Mr.  Wetmore  publicly  con- 
fessed Christ,  in  May,  1831.  Mr.  Wetmore  was  at  this 
time  thirty-five  years  of  age,  with  a  family  of  five  young 
children  demanding  his  care,  and  a  growing  business  re- 
quiring all  his  attention.  A  glance  at  the  religious  condi- 
tion of  the  city  at  this  time  will  be  interesting  as  showing 
the  influences  which  shaped  and  determined  the  line  of  his 
Christian  activities. 

The  City  Tract  Society,  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  A.  Hal- 
lock  and  others  had  organized  in  1827,  was  enlisting  more 
and  more  the  active  co-operation  of  evangelical  Christians, 
and  Harlan  Page  was  working  up  the  idea  of  personal 
effort  for  individual  souls.  In  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  third  Presbytery  was  organized,  January,  183 1,  and  at 
once  measures  were  taken  for  the  revival  of  religion  in 
the  churches.     The  pastors  and  elders  visited  the  churches 


in  rotation,  with  such  good  results  that  a  "  four-days'  meet- 
ing "  was  appointed  in  the  Central  Church.  This  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  deep  religious  movement,  which  ex- 
tended to  all  the  churches  of  all  denominations,  and 
brought  in  an  aggregate  of  two  thousand  souls  from  the 
world. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  great  spiritual  awakening, 
when  religious  interest  was  intense  and  Christians  were 
aroused  to  aggressive  effort,  that  Mr.  Wetmore  took  his 
stand  for  Christ.  It  would  seem  that  his  thoughtful  at- 
tention was  very  soon  arrested  by  the  evident  usefulness 
of  the  "Tract  Effort,"  as  it  was  generally  called.  Many 
of  his  neighbors  and  friends  were  personally  engaged  in 
carrying  it  forward,  among  whom  may  be  named  Lewis 
Tappan,  Arthur  Tappan,  Moses  Allen,  W.  W.  Chester,  W. 
E.  Dodge,  Leonard  Corning,  Dr.  Lewis  Hallock,  David 
Hoadley,  and  Cornelius  Baker.  Mr.  Wetmore  took  a 
tract  district  in  the  Fifth  Ward,  organized  a  neighborhood 
prayer-meeting,  and  every  week  visited  the  families  of  his 
charge,  and  was  permitted  to  see  most  encouraging  results. 
He  was  very  soon  brought  into  the  board  of  managers  of 
the  City  Tract  Society,  and  made  superintendent  of  the 
Tract  Effort  in  the  Fifth  Ward.  The  divine  blessing  so 
evidently  resting  upon  these  labors,  it  was  thought  best 
that  men  should  be  employed  to  devote  their  whole  time  to 
the  prosecution  of  the  work,  and  accordingly  Moses  Allen 

99 


engaged  a  man  for  the  Eighth  Ward  and  Mr.  Wetmore 
for  the  Fifth  Ward,  and  so  commenced  the  tract  mission- 
ary movement. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Wetmore  wrote  frequently  for  the 
religious  newspapers,  giving  accounts  of  the  operations 
of  the  tract  visitors,  and  showing  the  value  of  this  Chris- 
tian agency  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  From  one  of  these 
articles  the  following  extracts  are  given  : 

"The  reports  of  the  tract  visitors  received  this  month 
are  of  an  animating  character,  as  they  contain  many  facts 
of  a  deep  and  thrilling  interest,  calculated,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  to  show  the  value  and  importance  of  this  institu- 
tion." 

Mr.  Wetmore  then  proceeds  to  show  in  several  particu- 
lars, the  adaptation  of  this  effort  to  the  condition  of  the 
people,  and  meets  an  objector  who  says:  "We  have  now 
between  seventy  and  eighty  Evangelical  churches  in  this 
city,  and  many  other  means  of  grace  ;  let  the  destitute 
come  and  avail  themselves  of  these  if  they  wish  to  be 
saved." 

To  this  Mr.  Wetmore  says  :  "  I  would  answer  this  ob- 
jection by  asking  two  questions,  and,  first,  Was  this  the 
language  of  Christ  when  the  subject  of  man's  redemption 
was  discussed  in  the  councils  of  eternity  ?  Did  he  say  to 
his  Father,  '  They  have  the  law,  let  them  keep  that  if  they 
wish  to  be  saved  ? '  or  did  he  condescend  to  come  into  the 


world  and  go  about  doing  good,  carrying  the  gospel  to 
the  door  of  those  who  stood  in  need  of  its  proffer  of  life 
and  salvation  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  urging  it  upon  their 
attention  and  acceptance  ?  And  second,  Will  the  objector 
give  up  his  pew  for  the  purpose  of  seating  the  poor  who 
do  not  attend  any  church,  and  who  can  be  brought  in  ? 
These  questions  are  simple,  and  can  be  answered  and  ap- 
plied to  this  subject  with  perfect  ease.  The  fact  is,  the 
time  must  come  when  every  block  in  this  city  must  be 
supplied  with  this  or  some  other  means  equally  or  more 
efficient,  or  this  city  cannot,  as  we  now  view  the  subject, 
be  brought  to  Christ." 

With  such  views  of  the  spiritual  destitution  of  the  city 
and  the  need  of  earnest  Christian  effort  to  bring  the  gos- 
pel to  bear  upon  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the  people,  it  is 
no  wonder  that  Mr.  Wetmore's  ardent  spirit  glowed  and 
burned  with  intense  solicitude  that  Christians  should  be 
kept  to  their  duty  to  bear  the  word  of  life  to  the  needy, 
and  that  souls  should  be  saved. 

With  his  tender  compassion  for  the  sinning  and  the 
sorrowing,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  suffer- 
ing, it  was  but  natural  for  him  to  put  his  hand  to  any  and 
every  scheme,  projected  for  the  relief  of  those  who  were 
in  trouble.  So  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Associa- 
tion for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  the  Juven- 
ile Asylum,  the  Hospital  for  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled, 


the  Woman's  Hospital,  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  and  the 
Home  for  Fallen  and  Friendless  Girls. 

Large  sums  of  money  were  raised,  chiefly  through  his 
personal  efforts,  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  these  institutions,  so  that  in  the  aggregate  many  mil- 
lions of  dollars  must  have  passed  through  his  hands.  In 
addition  to  the  work  for  the  societies  with  which  he  was 
directly  connected,  there  were  other  calls  upon  his  time 
and  attention,  to  which  he  was  always  ready  to  respond. 
Feeble  churches  in  the  city,  missionary  fields  in  the  far 
West,  needy  ministers,  and  friendless  men  and  women, 
were  constantly  appealing  for  counsel,  sympathy,  and 
aid.  Many  special  subscriptions  were  set  on  foot  and 
successfully  completed  through  his  personal  effort.  In 
the  lists  of  collections  he  made,  which  he  carefully  pre- 
served, these  names,  as  subscribers,  most  frequently  ap- 
pear :  W.  B.  Crosby,  Isaac  Bronson,  Arthur  Bronson,  An- 
son G.  Phelps,  James  Brown,  Geo.  Griswold,  Pelatiah 
Perit,  Robert  L.  Stuart,  Alex.  Stuart,  W.  M.  Halsted,  R.  T. 
Haines,  C.  O.  Halsted,  W.  L.  King,  James  Suydam,  A.  M. 
Bruen,  John  C.  Green,  J.  C.  Baldwin,  Robert  B.  Minturn, 
Jona.  Sturges,  J.  F.  Sheafe,  W.  H.  Aspinwall,  James  Boor- 
man,  John  Johnston,  James  Lenox,  Thomas  C.  Doremus, 
and  others. 

Such  was  his  conspicuous  fidelity  to  every  trust,  that 
he  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  community  in 


an  eminent  degree,  and  men  would  give  to  him  when  they 
would  to  no  one  else.  In  times  of  business  panic,  when 
banks  had  shut  down,  and  confidence  had  fallen,  and 
credit  was  gone,  there  were  capitalists,  who  voluntarily 
came  forward,  and  offered  to  Mr.  Wetmore  any  amount 
of  money  he  might  need. 

How  the  view  of  Mr.  Wetmore,  at  the  head  of  a  large 
business  establishment,  and  actively  engaged  in  all  the 
philanthropic  movements  of  the  day,  impressed  the  be- 
holder, let  another  say.  When  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander 
came  to  this  city  thirty  years  ago,  he  very  soon  found  Mr. 
Wetmore — as  did  every  pastor  sooner  or  later — and  in  one 
of  his  familiar  letters  to  his  friend,  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  of  Tren- 
ton, he  says  :  "  Mr.  Wetmore,  who  conducts  the  City  Mis- 
sion, is  an  extraordinary  man.  He  is  ten  hours  every  day 
at  his  business,  yet  labors  beyond  everybody  else  in  reli- 
gious matters,  and  is  withal  as  gentleman-like  a  man  as 
you  will  find  in  a  summer's  day." 

To  the  city  missionaries  under  his  direction,  he  was  as 
a  father,  always  ready  to  advise  and  assist  in  every  emer- 
gency ;  and  his  revered  memory  will  long  be  gratefully 
cherished.  There  are  thousands  of  happy  homes  all  over 
the  land  that  have  been  made  bright  and  good  through 
influences  that  were  set  in  operation  by  Mr.  Wetmore,  in 
the  Juvenile  Asylum  and  the  City  Mission. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  social  in  his  disposition,  of  cheerful, 
103 


buoyant  temperament,  most  delightful  in  the  home  circle, 
and  happy  and  inspiring  in  his  associations  with  his  fel- 
low-man. He  was  quick  to  discern  character,  calm  and 
clear  in  his  judgment,  and  decided  and  prompt  in  action, 
and,  intelligently  attached  to  the  church  of  his  choice,  his 
warm  Christian  sympathies  flowed  out  over  all  denomina- 
tional lines,  to  all  of  every  name,  who  held  the  common 
faith  of  the  gospel.  "When  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  N.  Kirk 
and  others,  engaged  in  evangelistic  movements,  visited 
the  city,  they  always  found  their  way  to  81  Vesey  street, 
which  was  reckoned  as  the  headquarters  of  all  the  reli- 
gious and  benevolent  operations  of  the  city.  And  Mr. 
Wetmore  carried  on  an  extended  correspondence  with 
ministers  in  and  out  of  the  city,  who  were  interested  to 
learn  of  Christian  work  in  New  York. 

The  secret  of  the  usefulness  we  have  been  portraying 
lay  in  one  word,  consecration.  It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Wet- 
more,  when  he  gave  himself  to  Christ,  made  no  reserve. 
Time,  talents,  means,  influence,  all  that  he  possessed,  were 
given  unstintedly  to  Christian  service.  It  were  well  if  the 
forcible  appeal  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  M.  Taylor,  at  the 
funeral  service  in  the  Madison  Square  Church,  for  the 
younger  men  to  come  forward,  and  emulate  this  illustri- 
ous example  of  Christian  fidelity,  would  be  heeded.  What 
an  irresistible  power  for  good  is  one  consecrated  man,  and 

if  a  number   of  young   men    should   thus   devote   them- 

104 


selves   to   the   cause  of  Christ,  who  could  calculate  the 
result  ? 

The  last  day  of  his  life,  in  a  few  words  addressed  to 
the  boys  and  girls  in  the  Juvenile  Asylum,  Mr.  Wetmore, 
spoke  impressively  of  his  own  Christian  hope  of  heaven, 
and  his  earnest  desire  that  his  young  hearers  should  all 
meet  him  there. 

The  useful  life  thus  briefly  sketched  well  illustrates 
such  a  scriptural  portraiture  as  is  set  forth  in  these  pas- 
sages of  the  Word  of  God  : 

"  Not  slothful  in  business  ;  fervent  in  spirit ;  serving 
the  Lord.  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me, 
and  when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me  ;  because 
I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and 
him  that  had  none  to  help  him.  The  blessing  of  him 
that  was  ready  to  perish  came  upon  me,  and  I  caused  the 
widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy." 

"  For  David,  after  he  had  served  his  own  generation,  by 
the  will  of  God,  fell  on  sleep."  After  fifty  years  of  unin- 
terrupted, unremitting  labor  in  works  of  Christian  benefi- 
cence, continued  to  the  very  last  day  of  his  life,  A.  R. 
Wetmore  peacefully  fell  asleep,  without  a  stroke  of  pain 
or  suffering,  early  on  Friday  morning,  January  21,  in  the 
eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  Funeral  services  were  held 
in  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which 

he  had  been  identified  from  its  formation,  on  the  Monday 

105 


following,  when  the  city  missionaries  and  representatives 
of  the  various  societies,  and  a  large  concourse  of  citizens, 
were  present  to  testify  their  respect. 

Lewis  E.  Jackson. 


The  New  York  Observer,  January  27,  1881. 

One  of  the  most  useful  and  valued  of  the  Christian 
philanthropists  of  New  York,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore,  was 
called  to  his  rest  and  reward  on  Thursday  night  of  last 
week.  Although  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years, 
he  had  continued  to  enjoy  perfect  health,  and  had  at- 
tended to  the  daily  business  of  his  life,  the  work  of  Chris- 
tian benevolence,  up  to  the  hour  when  he  retired  to  rest 
on  Thursday  evening.  He  spent  the  afternoon  in  attend- 
ing to  the  affairs  of  one  of  the  numerous  charitable  insti- 
tutions with  which  he  was  connected,  and  the  evening  in 
social  intercourse  with  his  family  and  friends,  and  retired 
without  any  intimation  of  the  coming  event.  The  next 
morning  when  he  was  called  he  made  no  answer.  He 
had  passed  away  during  his  sleep  and  without  a  trace  of 
any  struggle  with  death. 

In   May,  183 1,  Mr.  Wetmore  united   with   the    Laight 

Street  Presbyterian  Church,  then  under  the  pastoral  care 

106 


of  Rev.  Dr.  Cox,  and  immediately  entered  upon  a  life  of 
Christian  activity  and   practical   benevolence  which  was 
continued  to  the  night  of  his  death  with  unabated  zeal 
and  with  extraordinary  success  in  all  that  he  undertook. 
It  was  through  his  personal  instrumentality  that  the  New 
York  City  Tract  Society  was  formed  in  1831,  and  became 
an  efficient  instrumentality  in  spreading  the  gospel,  the 
whole  city  being  districted  and   regularly  supplied  with 
religious  reading  and  with  other  means  of  grace.     This 
society  subsequently  developed  into  the  City  Mission,  an 
undenominational    organization,  with  the   extensive    and 
important  work  of  which  our  readers  are  familiar.     Mr. 
Wetmore  remained  in  the  presidency  of  this  institution  to 
the  last,  having  presided  at  the  meeting  of  its  executive 
committee  the  Monday  previous  to  his  death.     He  was 
also    president   of   the    New  York  Juvenile    Asylum,  the 
great  prosperity  and  extensive  usefulness  of  which  was  in 
a   large   measure    owing   to   his   fostering   care   and  un- 
wearied efforts  on  its  behalf,  especially  in  the  raising  of 
the  funds  for  its  buildings.     He  was  one  of  the  governors 
of  the  Woman's  Hospital,  and  raised  a  large  portion  of  the 
funds  by  which  it  was  erected.     One  of  its  buildings  is 
known  as  "The  Wetmore  Pavilion."     He  was  one  of  the 
governors  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  and  of  the  Hos- 
pital for  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled,  was  one  of  the  foun- 
ders of  the  Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of 

107 


the  Poor,  and  chairman  of  the  board  of  managers  of  the 
Home  for  Friendless  Girls. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  distinguished  for  his  efforts  and  suc- 
cess in  raising  the  needed  funds  for  the  various  charitable 
and  benevolent  institutions  with  which  he  was  connected. 
Probably  no  other  man  ever  lived  in  this  city,  and  we  may 
say  in  this  country,  who  had  been  so  successful  in  obtain- 
ing gifts  in  large  sums  for  the  various  objects  of  Christian 
philanthropy,  and  no  man  ever  excited  less  prejudice  in 
asking  for  money.  His  unvaried  Christian  courtesy  and 
gentleness  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  success,  and  the 
confidence  reposed  in  his  judgment  gave  an  assurance 
that  what  he  asked  for  was  really  needed  and  would  be 
well  employed. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  married  April  i,  1822,  to  Mary  Car- 
mer  of  this  city.  Eight  years  ago  he  celebrated  his  gold- 
en wedding.  Mrs.  Wetmore  died  three  years  later. 
They  had  six  children — Henry  C.  Wetmore,  now  dead, 
George  C.  Wetmore,  Theodore  R.  Wetmore,  and  William 
Wetmore,  and  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Henry  Mesier  and 
Mrs.  Charles  E.  Carryl. 

The  funeral  of  Mr.  Wetmore  was  attended  in  the  Madi- 
son Square  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, on  Monday,  by  a  large  concourse  of  the  Christian 
people  of  the  city.     The  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  Dr. 

Parkhurst,   opened   the    exercises   by   reading   selections 

108 


from  the  Scriptures  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Paxton  led  in  prayer  ;  ad- 
dresses were  made  by  Rev.  Drs.  Hitchcock  and  Taylor, 
and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  Dr.  Or- 
miston. 


The  New  York  Weekly  Witness,  January  27,  i88r. 

A  popular  pastor  said  last  Sabbath  morning  that  he 

had  seen  in  the  previous  day's  paper  two  obituary  notices, 

one  filling  a  column,  the  other  about  a  quarter  of  that 

space.     The  first  was  of  an  actor  who  had  spent  his  life 

in  making  people  laugh.     The  second  was  of  a  Christian 

philanthropist  who  had  spent  a  long  life  in  benevolent, 

enlightened,   and  successful  efforts  for  the  alleviation  of 

suffering  and  the  elevation  of  the  people  of  New  York, 

and  who  had  accomplished  more  good  than  any  other 

man  in  the  city.     This  very  striking  contrast  showed  most 

clearly  the  "  earthy  "  character  of  our  daily  press  ;  or  rather 

that  the  great  majority  of  its  readers  are  more  interested 

in  mirth  than  in  philanthropy,  and  in  comic  theatrical 

representations  than  in  city  missions,  juvenile  asylums, 

or  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  aged.     Whatever  may  be  the 

human  estimate  of  the  relative  importance  of  Sothern  and 

Wetmore,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  as  to  the  divine  estimate. 

Our  Lord  nowhere  tells  us  to  imitate  comic  actors,  but  he 

109 


gives  us  the  example  of  the  good  Samaritan,  and  says  go 
and  do  likewise. 

Several  years  ago  there  was  much  talk  about  the  worst 
man  in  New  York,  and  by  way  of  contrast  we  took  the 
liberty  of  pointing  out  in  the  Daily  Witness  Apollos  R. 
Wetmore  as  the  best  man  in  this  city.  We  had  just  be- 
come acquainted  with  one  after  another  of  his  great  and 
greatly  successful  philanthropic  enterprises,  and  we  were 
amazed  that  one  man  could  have  accomplished  more  in 
the  line  of  commencing  and  carrying  out  public  benevo- 
lent institutions  than  perhaps  all  the  other  contemporary 
philanthropists  of  the  city  put  together,  his  only  parallel 
being  that  wonderful  character  Isabella  Graham  of  the 
past  century.  We  commend  to  our  readers  the  record  of 
Mr.  Wetmore's  efforts  in  another  column,  but  no  language 
could  portray  the  benign  aspect  of  the  venerable  patriarch 
when  presiding  at  the  juvenile  reformatory  over  the  six 
hundred  healthy,  good-looking,  well-taught,  well-behaved 
children  of  both  sexes  gathered  there  from  the  slums  of 
the  city. 

The  New  York  Herald,  January  22,  1881. 

An    old-time    merchant,    an    all-time    philanthropist, 

passed  from   the  definite  to  the  infinite  early  yesterday 

morning,   when  suddenly,  quietly,  peacefully,  and  pain- 
no 


lessly,  Apollos  R.  Wetmore  died  in  his  home  on  West 
Ninth  street.  Few  men  were  better  known.  None  better 
deserved  the  universal  respect  of  their  fellows.  A  long 
life  of  usefulness  was  passed  by  him  in  this  city,  where 
his  bright  business  tact  secured  to  him  the  normal  results 
of  industry  and  honesty,  and  his  great  benevolence  led 
him  continually  into  fields  of  labor  the  reward  for  which 
is  found  elsewhere. 

But  perhaps  Mr.  Wetmore  found  more  personal  pleas- 
ure in  less  conspicuous  charities  than  in  these  more  pub- 
lic and  to  an  extent  perfunctory  benevolences.  He  rarely 
said,  "Go  thou  and  see,"  but  as  a  rule,  "  I  will  go  myself 
and  care  for  them."  He  lived  a  practical  benevolence. 
He  gave  money  as  well  as  advice,  and,  what  is  often  harder 
to  give,  time,  and  patience,  and  personal  attention.  He 
was  especially  happy  in  his  home,  and  had  the  pleasure 
of  celebrating,  some  eight  years  ago,  the  golden  wedding 
with  the  lady — Mary  Carmer — to  whom  he  was  married  in 
1822. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  apparently  in  perfect  health  when 
he  retired  on  Thursday  night.  He  had  conversed  freely 
and  with  interest  with  an  official  of  one  of  our  public  in- 
stitutions, whom  he  bade  "good-night"  in  a  cheerful  and 

even  playful  mood.     Yesterday  morning,  as  he  failed  to 

in 


appear  at  breakfast  time,  a  servant  was  sent  to  call  him, 
but  he  had  gone.  So  far  as  inference  may  be  drawn,  the 
venerable  man  had  slept  to  the  end  and  peacefully  passed 
away.  It  is  understood  that  funeral  services  will  be  held 
on  Monday  next,  in  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  if  a  moiety  of  those  who  knew  and  loved  him 
seek  to  attend,  the  spacious  edifice  will  be  packed  from 
rail  to  loft,  and  thousands  more  will  wait  outside. 

The  New   York  Times,  January  22,  1881. 

Apollos  Russell  Wetmore,  whose  name  has  been  prom- 
inently associated  with  the  best  philanthropic  efforts  in  the 
city  for  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  died  quietly  in 
his  bed  at  an  early  hour  yesterday  morning,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Carryl,  No.  33 
West  Ninth  street.  Mr.  Wetmore  retired  to  his  room  in 
his  usual  health  on  Thursday  night,  having  passed  the 
afternoon  in  examining  the  affairs  of  the  New  York  Juven- 
ile Asylum,  in  which,  as  one  of  the  founders,  he  was  par- 
ticularly interested.  He  left  the  office  of  the  asylum  about 
five  o'clock,  and  went  home.  Yesterday  morning  he  did 
not  make  his  appearance  at  the  breakfast  table  as  usual, 
and,  after  waiting  a  few  minutes,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  household  went  to  his  room.  He  was  found  lying 
upon  his  bed  in  apparent  repose,  and  had  evidently  ex- 


pired  in  sleep  without  a  struggle.  The  extremities  were 
still  warm,  showing  that  life  had  been  extinct  only  a  few 
minutes — or  an  hour  at  furthest.  The  event  was  not  al- 
together unexpected,  for,  in  addition  to  his  advanced  age, 
Mr.  Wetmore  lived  in  constant  danger  of  apoplexy,  and 
had  been  warned  by  his  medical  adviser  that  his  demise 
would  be  sudden.  He  had  often  observed  that  he  had  no 
dearer  wish  than  "  to  die  with  the  harness  on." 

As  a  philanthropist,  Mr.  Wetmore  was  regarded  as  a 
practical  man  in  the  management  of  institutions  rather 
than  a  theorist.  He  believed  in  doing,  not  in  talking, 
and  devoted  his  time  to  results  rather  than  theoretical  ex- 
planations. His  name  ranks  with  that  of  Howard  and 
Peabody  in  this  department  of  modern  activity,  and  his 
association  with  a  project  was  considered  as  a  guarantee 
both  of  the  good  faith  of  its  promoters  and  of  ultimate 
success.  Thousands  of  children  during  the  last  twenty 
years  have  owed  their  rescue  from  infamy  and  vice  to  his 
efforts,  and  thousands  of  the  city's  poor  have  blessed  his 
name  as  that  of  a  benefactor.  His  uprightness  was  a 
proverb,  his  kindness  to  the  suffering  a  sunny  spot  in 
human  experience.  The  arrangements  for  the  funeral 
have  not  been  fully  perfected.  The  services  will  take 
place   at    ii    o'clock   a.m.,   on   Monday,   at   the    Madison 

Square  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parkhurst  offi- 

113 


dating  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hall  assisting.  Seats  will  be  re- 
served for  the  delegates  of  the  various  boards  with  which 
he  was  associated,  but  other  details,  such  as  the  names  of 
pall-bearers,  etc.,  remain  to  be  announced  hereafter. 


The  New   York  Commercial  Advertiser ,  January  21,   1881. 

As  a  philanthropist,  as  a  friend  of  the  poor,  the  unfor- 
tunate, the  friendless,  the  name  of  "Wetmore"  is  entitled 
to  be  associated  with  that  of  Howard  or  Peabody.  Those 
who  mourn  his  departure  will  number  thousands  of  per- 
sons in  humble  life  unknown  to  the  world  at  large,  but 
who  nevertheless  in  the  mind  of  their  benefactor  were 
among  the  most  worthy.  Thousands  of  young  children, 
too,  saved  from  crime  and  infamy  through  his  interven- 
tion, or  given  places  of  usefulness  in  the  walks  of  indus- 
try, "will  call  him  blessed." 


The  New  York  Times,  January  25,  1881. 

The  funeral  of  Mr.  Apollos  Russell  Wetmore,  whose 
thirty  years  of  active  philanthropic  work  were  closed  last 
week  by  sudden  death,  took  place  from  the  Madison  Square 
Presbyterian  Church  at  10  o'clock  yesterday.  The  audi- 
ence comprised  a  very  large  number  of  faces  familiar  in 

114 


commerce  and  the  professions.  The  coffin  rested  upon  a 
low  bier  in  front  of  the  altar  railing,  and  was  a  simple 
black  casket,  heavily  trimmed  and  bearing  the  name  and 
age  of  the  deceased.  A  single  floral  symbol  graced  its 
head.  It  consisted  of  a  wheat-field  freshly  harvested,  the 
sharp  stubble  penetrating  to  the  surface  in  the  midst  of 
a  groundwork  of  verdure  composed  of  smilax  and  other 
evergreens.  The  field  was  bordered  about  with  a  heavy 
margin  of  white  roses,  some  of  which  were  only  half 
opened,  and  across  it  was  laid  a  sickle  of  white  flowers  at 
the  base  of  a  large  sheaf  of  ripened  grain.  In  the  pulpit 
were  seated  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parkhurst,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
M.  Taylor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  M.  Paxton,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Hitchcock,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Ormiston.  A  few 
minutes  before  the  services  were  opened  with  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  with  prayer,  the  officers  and  directors 
of  the  New  York  Juvenile  Asylum  assembled  in  the  pri- 
vate room  at  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  whence  they  were 
escorted  to  the  pews  assigned  them.  Among  them  were 
Vice-President  Ezra  M.  Kingsley,  Mr.  Henry  Talmadge, 
the  treasurer,  Mr.  Charles  D.  Adams,  Mr.  Edmund  Dwight, 
Mr.  Benjamin  B.  Sherman,  Mr.  Oliver  E.  Wood,  Mr.  An- 
drew H.  Green,  Mr.  C.  C.  Peck,  Mr.  John  W.  Quincy, 
and  Mr.  Clarkson  Crolius.  The  name  of  Mr.  Quincy 
headed  the  list  of  pall-bearers,  and  among  his  associates 

were  Mr.   Oliver  E.  Wood,  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  Admiral 

i  is 


W.  E.  LeRoy,  George  W.  Lane,  J.  F.  Sheafe,  Morris  K. 
Jesup,  and  R.  M.  Buchanan.  The  pall-bearers  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  officers  in  a  body,  and  delegations  were  pres- 
ent from  the  managing  boards  of  the  City  Mission  and 
Tract  Society,  the  Woman's  Hospital,  the  Society  for  the 
Relief  of  the  Ruptured  and  Crippled,  and  the  Bible  So- 
ciety. 

As  the  coffin  was  placed  upon  the  bier,  the  choir  sang, 
"  I  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me,  write."  The  congrega- 
tion was  addressed  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hitchcock  and  Tay- 
lor. The  former  reviewed  the  life  of  Mr.  Wetmore  at 
length,  and  spoke  of  his  great  services  to  the  cause  of 
humanity  everywhere,  and  of  his  unswerving  integrity 
and  honor.  Dr.  Taylor's  address  was  in  a  similar  strain, 
but  dwelt  with  more  especial  emphasis  upon  the  multi- 
tude of  philanthropic  works  to  which  Mr.  Wetmore  had 
put  his  hand,  their  success,  and  their  value  as  monuments 
to  his  zeal  and  fidelity.  The  services  were  drawn  to  an 
end  with  a  contralto  solo — "Abide  with  Me" — and  the 
benediction  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ormiston.  The  remains  were 
taken  to  the  Marble  Cemetery,  in  Second  avenue,  for  in- 
terment, but  many  of  the  congregation  lingered  in  the 
aisles  and  at  the  altar,  admiring  the  various  floral  pieces 
contributed  by  the  various  societies.  Among  the  well- 
known  citizens  present,  in  addition  to  those  already 
named,    were    Mr.    William    E.    Dodge,   Mr.   William   E. 

116 


Dodge,  Jr.,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Crosby,  Mr.  J.  B.  Cornell,  ex- 
Judge  Mitchell,  ex-Judge  Peabody,  Mr.  Jackson  S.  Schultz, 
Judge  Brady,  Mr.  F.  F.  Marbury,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall, 
John  E.  Develin,  Mr.  Elbridge  T.  Gerry,  Dr.  Heman  C. 
Dyer,  Mr.  Robert  H.  McBirney,  Mr.  John  Taylor  John- 
ston, E.  D.  Morgan,  Justice  Bixby,  Theodore  W.  Dwight, 
James  M.  Brown,  and  Robert  L.  Stuart. 

"7 


